


Imagine Me and You

by eebee



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Derek is a Nurse, Emissary in Training Stiles Stilinski, Erica Reyes & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, M/M, Past Underage, Rough Trade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 01:43:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 50,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3510473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eebee/pseuds/eebee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everybody always says that if/when you meet your soulmate, you'll just know. That everything will be sunshine and daisies, and behold a light shall shineth down from heaven. That's pretty much always how it goes in those movies. They see each other across a crowded ballroom, courtroom, bump into each other reaching for the same loaf of organic oatmeal flax bread at Whole Foods.</p>
<p>The media lies, people! That totally didn't happen!</p>
<p>or,</p>
<p>Soulmates Stiles and Derek meet, but don't notice their fledgling soulmate bond.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story may be cavity inducing. Sorry, I'm just gonna admit that up front. But honestly, what soulmates story isn't? 
> 
> Anyway, I wrote it for Nano this year, and it's complete at just over 50k words. I've been over it like.. ten times for errors, and issues, but I am open to a beta, if anybody wants to volunteer.

Prologue:

Derek Hale is daydreaming. It's a one second daydream that happens between the realization that his shift is ended, and the moment, that the Head Nurse on Duty walks by and tells him that Carly called out, and nobody can make it in until eight, and he's on for another four. But for that one sweet second, he'd been stripped bare, and falling into his big four poster, in his warm house full of the scent of his pack, and the meal that James had cooked that evening lingering in the air, awake in one moment, and on his way to sleep the next, surrounded by soft blankets, and his perfectly shaped pillow.

Instead, he sighs heavily, and pulls out his cell and shoots Laura a text. 

To Laura [04:17]: Stuck at hospital. Will meet you in town in the morning. Text me where you want to meet.

* * *

Laura heads down stairs to the kitchen the next morning, and she's halfway through pouring her tea, when she realizes that Derek isn't home. She fishes her cell from her purse on the counter, checking for messages, and sighs when she sees the text from her brother. She replies with a request to meet at a cafe in Union Square to grab a coffee and a muffin because she knows he's going to be an exhausted grump for the meeting now, and settles at the counter with her tea, and grabs an apple from the bowl, and idly flips through the headlines on BBC News, before she hears James pad down the stairs to the kitchen. "Morning," he says, pressing a kiss to her shoulder as he passes on his way to the coffee pot. "Derek's not home?" he says, head tilted slightly, as he listens for a heartbeat that isn't there.

Laura smiles fondly as she watches him add milk and sugar in a familiar rhythm, before sitting down next to her and nuzzling at her jaw below her ear. "Good morning. He got stuck at work, apparently. I'm going to meet him in town. What's your plan for today, then?" she asks, curious.

"The write up on the gulf is due today, and I have a stack of edits to do. I was planning on locking myself in the office for the day to be honest. Why?"

"Just being nosy."

James stares at her over his mug, "No, that's not it. You have court today, don't you?"

She grins back, knowing her husband gets all kinds of hot and bothered watching her command a courtroom- which gets her all hot and bothered. Those are very good nights. "I do, this afternoon."

James sighs. "I'd go, but I really can't today. I really wish I could." 

Laura pouts slightly, putting her own mug in the sink after a cursory rinse. "It's all good. I'll just have to be amazing, without a truly appreciative audience is all."

"I'll still rip all your clothes off when you get home. Promise," he says, quiet and low, pulling her close by the arm as she moves to walk past.

She laughs, thrilled, and pulls him close, and rubs the pads of her fingers over his cheekbones, and down his neck. "You damned well better. I'm gonna be a soaking wet mess, thinking about it, all day long. You'll give it to me good, won't you baby?"

James whimpers. "You know I will."

She grins, fierce, letting her fangs drop in. "Fill me up, until I'm dripping with spunk, and reeking of you for days and days. Maybe put a little puppy in there?"

James growls. "Woman. Cease your teasing."

"It's only teasing if I don't put out, right?" she asks, sunny grin, and delight in her voice, fangs receding quickly. "I'm have to get going, Derek and I are meeting with the finance guy. Should be a thrill. Love you," she says, grabbing her gym bag, and briefcase from its place by the door, and sliding her feet into the black patent wedges she'd placed on the bench by the door earlier on her way into the kitchen.

Laura smiles brightly to herself, as James let's a low rumble of a growl fill the quiet, before she shuts the front door to the brownstone, and the sound is swallowed by the noise of the busy Brooklyn street. Awesome.

* * *

The sign says _Always Dawn Diner & Cafe_, and Derek has no idea what that means, but he also does not care, because it smells amazing - like coffee, bacon and bread. He has been awake for twenty hours, which normally would be fine, except this is day four, of long busy shifts in the pit, and he needs and really wants to be unconscious. He doesn't quite understand why Laura always makes him go with her to meet their financial adviser, he has no particular opinion on how they invest their money, but- it makes her feel better so he goes. It's the least he can do for her, all things considered.

He's ordered and paid for a frankly obscene amount of coffee, and he's waiting for the hipstery barista to just please for the love of god and all that is holy call his name, as he stands in a fog, when the metaphorical clouds part and he hears, "Cup for Derek!" Finally!

Derek walks forward, and reaches to grab the cup but the kid is hanging on to it, looking at him intently. "Dude, I will give you this, if you promise you aren't going to drink EIGHT SHOTS OF ESPRESSO AT ONCE. That is seriously unhealthy. And nurses are totally caffeine fiends, so I know you've already had some today. I won't be held responsible for the death of a guy as mind-blowingly hot as you, Nurse Derek. So, promise?"

"I- Sure?" Derek agrees, momentarily thrown by being called 'Nurse Derek', the compliments, and the concern; but he's a wolf, and so he feels entirely justified in lying when he replies, "Promise."

"Cool. Get some rest, okay? You look like you're about to fall over." the boy with no name says, letting go of the cup, and smiling. 

Derek takes a second to catalog the guy in front of him, adorable in a bright apron that fades from purple to yellow with Always Dawn printed across it in navy blue, and a blank name tag. His dark brown hair is a little long and stylishly messy, and he looks thrilled to be handing out coffee to cranky people heading to work and school. He has beautiful brown eyes. "That's the plan."

"Good. Have a good sleep, dude."

Derek walks out of the cafe, but he stops a few feet from the exit to drain the entire cup and toss it into the green trash bin on the street near the front of the cafe. He doesn't see the barista inside boggle, he does however see Laura run up and melts a little when she wraps her arms around him. "Hey."

She frowns up at her brother, who looks exhausted. His scrubs are wrinkled, and his jacket is zipped all the way up a sure sign he's feeling the cold when he shouldn't be. His usually well styled hair is a mess from too many hours of hands running through it, and tussle. His eyes are slightly droopy, and his stubble is longer than usual. "Wow, Der, you look like shit. Let's get this done, and I'll put you in a taxi."

"Your idea, you're paying."

Derek wakes late that night in his bed to a foreign feeling filling his chest- amusement. The bizarre feeling is quickly drowned out by irritation as the sound of James and Laura upstairs registers. He sighs heavily and pulls on his noise-cancelling headphones after grabbing them from the top of his bedside table and buries his head under his pillow trying to drown out even the faintest smell of them. He's feeling hungry, and irritated, and is working desperately to resist the urge to laugh and laugh and laugh. He has no idea what's funny.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles makes a plan to find his soulmate, Derek flounders, and Laura has a rough evening off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for the kudos, I'm glad you enjoyed the beginning, hope you like this too! 
> 
> This format will continue for Arc 1, where you get Stiles for half the chapter or so, and Derek for half the chapter or so. Feel free to let me know what you think either way!

Chapter 1

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


September 14, 2016

It's the dumbest thing- everybody always says that if/when you meet your soulmate, you'll just know. That everything will be sunshine and daisies, and behold a light shall shineth down from heaven. That's pretty much always how it goes in those movies. They see each other across a crowded ballroom, courtroom, bump into each other reaching for the same loaf of organic oatmeal flax bread at Whole Foods.

The media lies, people! That totally didn't happen! 

Is that normal? I don't know. I've never been normal, so I'm not sure why I thought if I had a soulmate, that our meeting would be normal. But anyway, it didn't and so this is my new blog. My roommate suggested it, and I thought about it for a while, and I figure it's as good an idea as any.

The bond settled right at the start of this month. It's pretty strong. I don't know if there's some kind of scale that doctors use, or what, but I checked in with my doctor and he asked me a long list of questions, and when I was done, he just leaned back on his rolling stool, and nodded. That's really helpful, right? 

He said it's a good strong bond, that it's stable, that the empathy is apparently moving easily between us. I guess that's good. I think I'll appreciate it more when I meet him or her. As it is, it's pretty weird to be blindsided by someone else's feelings. Currently I'm mostly registering exhaustion-- it's not like I get physically tired, and that shouldn't come across since it's a physical condition--You'd THINK- but somehow I get it, it makes thoughts feel like honey taking forever to move, and its overlaid on top of my own thoughts which go at a much faster speed. It's a fucking weird sensation let me tell you!

What gets to me the most is the worry. (That shit's all mine. I am a worrier. If I could get paid to worry, I would be richer than Trump.) I work in Manhattan near Union Square, and I see thousands of people a day. People that are locals- students, businessmen, the hilarious old dudes that hang out at my job- but I also see tons of tourists - people just passing through on their way to the farm market in the square, or people that are here this week, and back in their homes far far away the next. 

My soon to be step-mom (who was way more informative than my doctor about this!) asked me if I could recall anybody in particular that I made a strong connection to, or was particularly attracted to. But, honestly, I talk to a lot of people! Extrovert = ME. I am a talker. And, I see beautiful attractive people every day. In the city models just wandering around is actually a thing. So, while I could probably write a list of people that consists of things like: hot guy that winked at me over his skim mocha, that isn't going to bring them to me, and I wouldn't have any way to contact them. Maybe if I was sure who it was I could like reenact a soulmates rom-com and start passing around flyers with a pretty face and a phone number. Alas, I do not, and ... I don't know that seems stalkery and weird. Right? I always thought it was. 

We will find each other though. I believe that. I have to believe that. 

I wanted to set this up, and get this out there as a way to help my soulmate find me by sharing facts, but - I think it might not be too bad a thing to journal and share about me too. (It's an enticement, I know. I'm sorry!)

So here goes:  
Hi I'm S. (No I'm not sharing my name!) I'm currently 22, and desperately trying to finish up two undergrad programs- Sociology and Classics. I'm on track to finish this year. I'm originally from NorCal, and I miss it like burning sometimes-- the people especially, but the redwoods, and the beach and... everything. I have a roommate who is the Catwoman to my Batman, and I love her, in a not-sleeping-together-anymore-just-friends sort of way. 

I work at a diner, serving up coffee and pancakes all day, sometimes it's a little exhausting, but, it's also pretty fun. I like my regulars, and people get really excited about coffee. Also they get excited about large bowls of Lucky Charms, but who wouldn't get excited about that? 

I think my enthusiasm over a large bowl of Charms would only be rivaled by warm and toasty frosted strawberry pop-tarts. (Or post-sex pancakes, but I think I would want to make those ourselves, like.. still naked, and not go get some at my place of employment. Just sayin' soulmate, things to remember for the future. PANCAKES. NAKED. )

As previously mentioned, The Roommate suggested the blog (Who is not named Selina but I will refer to her as such, should I refer to her at all. I just decided I can't just keep calling her my roommate)- maybe it'll never get noticed by anyone, but maybe my soulmate will be searching for me too. Maybe we'll find each other here in the space that doesn't exist outside of ones and zeroes.

So anyway, there's an email address at the top. Feel free to email me, if you think you might be the one I'm looking for. There's a reply as comment box to. If you want to ask general questions, dear reader, that's cool. 

#soulmates #imay #whosfeelingsaretheseanyhow? #S_overshares

* * *

It's never super busy or loud in the Hale household. They are often not on the same schedule. Laura works long hours that often entail going in early, and staying until the late evening, but she's pretty adamant about having her late dinners and nights with James. Derek gets it, they're mates, and it's important to reconnect. They've been married since last year, in a small rural ceremony upstate that Derek, and James' entire pack had been invited to. He has a more hectic schedule, often being scheduled for a 9AM to 9PM, but getting called late, and working a 1PM to 1AM, or a 5AM to 9PM on one fantastic occasion. So, having some time to sit and talk with Laura has been - difficult to manage. But tonight, James is out running with his family, and the opportunity is too good to pass up.

He finds his sister in their tiny living room, sitting on the floor in yoga pants and a huge navy blue Columbia Law hoodie, with the sleeves jammed up to her elbows, painting her nails on the coffee table, watching an episode of one of the CW shows she swears she only watches sometimes, but actually watches every week, and DVRs. How is he not supposed to notice that? "Hey, Laura."

She grins up at him. "Puppy! What's up? Here to steal all my popcorn?"

Derek makes a face. "How can you paint your nails and eat popcorn at the same time without getting salt in your polish?" he asks, confusion winning out over the immediate question, and what he wants to discuss with her. 

"Magic," she says, grinning, and Derek rolls his eyes, as he takes a seat on the sofa, she's leaning against. It's not a stupid question! He's heard enough whining about it to know that drying polish takes a while. Whatever, she can lie if she wants to, she's the alpha. 

"Uh huh, sure thing, Hermione. But, I actually wanted to - ask you something else."

She gives him a look that says, 'Well, NOW I'm worried. Spit it out this instant!', and he can feel himself crumbling. Ever since his mom died, Laura has been his rock- and his anchor. Peter had been the alpha, but he'd been in the hospital for so long, and then crazy immediately followed by dead. She is all he has, so in the face of feeling like a mental patient, he has to trust her. "You're still my Alpha, right? I'm not a stray omega you just keep in your house?"

Laura immediately looks angry, fangs on display, and Derek feels himself instinctually want to cower, but instead of shouting at him, she grabs his face by the chin and flashes her eyes at him, and he feels himself respond. "You're mine. Derek, you've always been mine, or Mom's. Why would you think otherwise? Have we been ignoring you? I know you've been a little off. I thought maybe you were stressing about work. I know you were hoping to get a placement in L&D, and you were worried you might not get it-"

"I feel like I'm losing my mind," he interrupts, absolutely not wanting to get off on a tangent like the one she's building up to. "Omegas almost always go crazy out on their own, so I thought maybe- maybe we weren't as bonded as I thought."

Laura caps the bottle of polish she'd left open, and shifts to sit next to Derek on the sofa. "Nothing has changed between you and the pack. I noticed you were upset-- James has noticed it too, but he didn't know what to do about it, and I decided to let you come to me. You don't like being pushed. Maybe that was the wrong decision," she says, gently and very deliberately puts her hands on his knees squeezing hard, and peering at him intently. "Derek, you are not an omega. You are my beta, and I am not going to give you up. Do you hear me?"

He nods, and leans against her shoulder, inhaling deep comforting lungfuls of her scent. She doesn't smell exactly the same as his mother, but she has undertones of Talia that Derek will never forget, and will always be grateful for. "I keep feeling somebody else's feelings. That's what it feels like. It's not always opposites, but I think those are the ones I notice the most. Like, being annoyed, and wanting to laugh. Or like right now. I'm - what would you say?"

Laura isn't sure she can parse out all the emotions his scent is broadcasting but she gives it a go, and frowns, because it hurts. "Distress. Anxiety. Fear."

"Then why have I been bizarrely happy all day? Like, one minute I'm," he pauses looking for a suitable word and settling for, "fine-- and the next it bubbles up, a little puddle of joy in my chest. The mailman asked if I was high."

Laura doesn't want to laugh, because she can tell her brother is actually very worried, but she can picture Rob doing that, and her brother's stone faced expression. She loves her brother, but he was unfortunately gifted with a face that was, despite being contradictory, both absolutely beautiful, and absolutely prone to resting angry face. He has a handsome smile, but it's pretty rare to see it. She rubs her face, to let a little bit of her reaction out, before letting her hands drop to her lap, and giving the matter her best attention. 

She stills, blowing on her nails for a few moments letting her mind drift, before she notices the television still on the background quietly advertising a new rom-com about soul mates, before she glances at Derek, who is sitting there, scowling and then glaring at his chest. He's a freaking nurse, how did he not realize? "Derek, it's a soul bond. It's an empathic bond, right? Isn't that the saying- That you think with your mind and feel with your soul- and that's why it manifests that way? I mean, we all know it's not like that- that it's all hormones, and neurons, and neurotransmitters. That's - that's what it sounds like, isn't it? Picking up emotions from someone else?"

Derek shakes his head. "It can't be that."

Laura frowns, sensing a shift in his mood from confused, to hurt. "Why not?"

Derek shrugs, wrapping his arms around himself and sliding down the couch slightly, putting distance between them, stubborn and petulant, "It just can't. I can't have a soul mate."

"Wolves can have soulmates. Though, they're usually humans. I know of a few. Not personally, but anecdotally. That's okay, isn't it? What would be so bad about having someone that's just yours?" she asked, pushing a lock of his hair off his forehead.

Derek is shaking his head, and Laura can hear his heartbeat rabbiting. It'd been a little elevated, but this is - panic. "Derek, if this is about Paige-"

Derek whimpers. "It's not. Though, she deserved a soulmate. Not me. I don't- why should I have something like that. You don't even have something like that, and you're amazing."

Laura glares at him. "I am not amazing. I make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, Derek. Especially young impressionable kids," she says pointedly.

"I don't deserve this. I can't. I can't-" and Laura feels her heart breaking for her younger brother, who is clearly distraught if the pounding of his heartbeat, and the scent of distress-, and sorrow that's pouring off him is any measure. She's interested to note she can't scent any of Derek's bondmate's emotions, which really goes to her theory- because Derek isn't actually feeling them.

She needs more time than she has to work through this, and realizes that she has an option that will give it to her. "Look at me," she says, commanding. Derek looks up at her, and Laura feels guilty even before she opens her mouth, but feels immediate relief when his body immediately obeys, when she says in her most serious alpha voice, "SLEEP."

She leans back against the side of the couch and stares, collecting her thoughts, now that he's asleep. It's clearly at least a little bit about Paige, but if she misses her guess, it's probably more about that bitch that burned their house down. She'd sent him to therapy for a few years after they'd arrived in New York, but apparently that hadn't been enough if he's still carrying this around. 

Laura gets up, abandoning her plan to do her nails, and opens the liquor cabinet, when she gets to the dining room, and pulls out the wolfsbane laced tequila and takes a chug from the bottle, as she fights back tears. "How did I miss this?"


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Stiles worries about his bondmate, and they share dream space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm sorry the beginning chapters are so short . I might even post another tonight, since I'm going out of town for the next few days. Thanks for all the lovely kudos so far! Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 2

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)

October 10, 2016

I am home! I know you all missed me. It's been a bit since I posted, but things have been quiet on the soulbond front- mostly. Soulmate, I love you already, and I can sometimes tell you're hurting. I don't know, maybe I help. I hope so?

I just got back from a long weekend at home. It was a great trip. My dad got remarried to the awesomest lady to grace the planet since my mom. The best part is now I also have a step-brother, and a step-sister in law. My tiny family of two is a family of five now. My new step-brother is my best friend in the world, and his wife is pretty damn awesome. She's learning Kendo, and she's rather advanced, and speaks three languages. Which isn't really a badass skill, just sort of cool. My new brother is totally badass in his own sort of way, that mostly involves being awesome to puppies and kittens(He's training to be a vet) but- caring for others is badass in its own way. So says S, it is now the law. 

My dad and my mom weren't soulmates. Neither are Dad, and Mrs M. I know some people think the bond isn't a gift. That it's a problem. And, there are recorded instances where it's broken relationships. But, there's always plenty of soulmates that are just, "I'd do anything for you, Man!" friends. I just- I wanted to get this out there. I can feel your hurt, and I worry that maybe you're married, or in a relationship that is I don't know super rewarding and life affirming and you're scared that you'll have to give it up. I won't ask you for an all or nothing bond, if I'm not everything you want and need, then that's okay. We will find a way to be friends. That said, I'm tragically single! 

Being home gave me a chance to tell some of my friends about my soulbond. They were excited for me, which is -of course they are. I haven't told many people in 'real life'. Selina knows- obviously, but none of my closest friends knew, and I guess I should tell my friend that's in Boston since she didn't show up for the wedding.... before she figures it out on her own and decides to lord it over me - forever. Bad me. Note to self. But, it's a little fun to have something that is just ours, right, Soulmate? I bet you get it. Then of course my bro says, 'Dude, only you could stand in front of your soulmate and totally miss it.' I have DONE THE RESEARCH. I am a Research PRO. If I had a superpower, it would be UNBELIEVABLE Google-fu. I can find anything. ANYTHING.

Apparently, it's not that weird. It happens. It's why the resonance exists at all. Well, one of the papers said that. That the resonance is - like a homing sound that helps draw you together. That's completely conjecture as far as I could tell, and that doesn't make much sense. If in the time when this tendency would have evolved in humans -if you found a soulmate at all, they wouldn't have been hard to find, living in small hunter gatherer communities. It makes more sense for it to be - reinforcement, if any is required to STAY with your mate. It's described as - well it sounds like it feels good- but describing a sensation is weird - and as Readers and commenters will attest, it doesn't always make sense to anybody but those who have experienced it. So, I'll take a shot at it if/when I feel it, for science or - completeness, but I haven't yet. (Disheartening!)  
In any event, Soulmate, take care. 

#soulmates #imay #LawsofS  


* * *

Derek is dreaming. He knows because he's a wolf, in the dream, big for a wolf with thick pure black fur, and he catches sight of his bright blue wolf's eyes in his reflection in a window. The full wolf transformation is a skill that is known to run in his family, but almost exclusively in the women. His mother possessed the skill, as does Laura now. Derek doesn't, but his mind has given it to him anyway. The streets are seasonally chilly for mid-October, and the wind that is common in the city, ruffles his fur as it gusts through the man-made canyons. The city is aglow with the lights of what should be bustling cafes, bars, and office buildings. But the streets are empty. 

The waxing moon is low, but bright in the otherwise starless sky. Derek howls, long, and joyous greeting the moon in the way of wolves. Older wolf traditions worshipped the moon. Some, worshipped Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Derek can see why that went out the window around the time where wolves became the enemy, unfairly. Now though, mostly werewolves have no particular religion. Tradition abounds, Emissaries are named to carry them from generation to generation, but Derek doesn't know any wolf that can stand shifted in front of the moon, without at least wanting to greet her.

The howl echoes though the empty street, and fades beyond his heightened hearing. The wolf pads down the street, scenting, watching, keenly looking around corners, and under benches, behind trashcans. He has heard that humans don't smell in dreams, but wolves always do, it would be like dreaming without sight, or sound for a human. But all that is there, are the usual city smells: humans, rodents, trash, coffee, cooking meat. Different parts of the city have different smells, but he knows Washington Square Park, with its little chess tables, and the wide-open npatch of grass. Something small is scurrying nearby, but he can't scent it, and he can't see it, but he can hear it moving around. He wuffs, and it stops. Derek isn't sure if the creature is scared of the predator that he presents, or not, but there is near silence in the park. 

Bitten wolves often talk as if they are fractured. A human and a wolf sharing a body, with different drives, instincts, and thoughts. But Derek has always been just himself- a human-wolf. If they are separate Derek's wolf and Derek's human self have always been united in their desires. Not tonight though, tonight Derek is caught unaware, as the wolf turns away from the park bench nearest the scuttling, and walks to the part of the park with the widest clearing, and sits on its haunches, and lets out a long ululating call for its pack, for its mate. They aren't long, but the wolf calls out a dozen times at least before laying down on the grass. Derek feels the lonely emptiness of every silence that calls back, instead of a mate. 

Derek feels the last howl building in the wolf's great lungs, low, and mournful, and wakes suddenly to Laura shaking him awake. "Thank god," she says apropos of nothing, before leaning back. James is standing in the doorway, in a t-shirt and boxers, looking worried.

The bed is destroyed, torn apart by claws, and Derek looks down at himself, and realizes that he's .. in the wolf's body, he's fully shifted. He focuses on his anchor, on Laura, and feels himself start to shift smoother, and with less pain than ever before, until he's kneeling in the bed. 

"You had me scared, Pup," Laura says, sighing deeply. "You were howling."

Derek stares. "Seriously?" he asks, even as he tries to pull some of the destroyed blankets over himself. Laura has seen all of him, and James has too- they run together sometimes upstate in the state parks on the occasional full moon, or a special occasion, but it's polite. Derek knows that while none of them are particularly body modest, James secretly appreciates not having to see Derek's assets. 

She nods in answer, rubbing no doubt sleepy eyes even as she does it before folding her arms across her chest and rubbing her hands over her shoulders and down her bare arms, and Derek realizes she's wearing a tiny slip, and James has tugged on a pair of boxers that he knows neither of them sleep in. "So, congrats on the new shift, and the control- but it would be great if you could- you know- not wake the neighborhood."

Derek blushes. "Uhm, sorry."

She shrugs like it doesn't matter than much. Derek knows it wouldn't be the first time they'd watched a nature documentary too loud in the house. 

"Was it a shared dream? I've heard they can happen, sometimes," James asks, apparently too curious to resist.

Derek shrugs. "If it was, I didn't see - anyone. There was something there in the park, small, but it was hiding, I think. I- couldn't tell if my brain had simply provided a handy fat squirrel for my dream wolf to want to eat, or not."

Laura chuckles slightly. "Who'd want to eat a park squirrel anyway? It'd probably taste like nitrates and chemicals. Silly Pup."

Derek nods. "Laura, something else happened though. The wolf- and I wanted to do different things. Like, it wanted to call its mate, and I wanted to search for the .. thing in the park."

"And you woke up a wolf, howling in bed."

Derek makes a gesture to say, "exactly!" and Laura just frowns. 

James goes to answer, but instead let's out of a jaw cracking yawn. "Derek, it might be time to consider that your punishment of yourself - for we don't know exactly what- is effecting you in ways we can't anticipate."

Laura frowns. "I'm going to call Alan. I know that the grief counselor helped you. It might be time to find someone for you again. There's got to be a therapist somewhere in this city that knows about weres. And I don't want to hear anything about it. Alpha's orders."

Derek stares down at his shredded sheets, and just nods. "Fine."

Laura stands up from the bed and lets her left arm fall to her side before she pats his head, and runs a hand over his cheek with her right. "Get some rest, you're back on shift starting tomorrow, right?"

He nods. Four twelve hour days to go. "Yeah."

"We'll talk about it when you're off. I love you, little brother."

He smiles. "I love you too, Alpha."

James closes the door, but mouths a goodnight, before giving Derek one last smile, and shutting the door. 

Derek lays back in bed for less than a minute before getting up. He needs to move, not rest. Twelve miles might make him feel better. Right?


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Derek and Laura struggle through the anniversary of the fire, and Stiles goes on Mr Toad's Wild Ride of Emotional Fuckery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually, I'll probably post all of Arc 1 tonight, if I can get through final checks on all of it. But, since this is unbeta'd, if you see something that's off, or a stupid typo feel free to let me know if the comments and I'll go back and edit. 
> 
> Hope you're enjoying.

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


October 13, 2016

Hello Soulmate/Readers!

Guys, I'm thrilled with my few comments (that aren't from smartass roommates)! It's nice to get some encouragement, so thanks! 

We had our first shared dream! I didn't even know that that was even a thing, until I started really doing research last month. It's apparently more common in soulmates that aren't together - whether they missed the connection like myself (Don't think I haven't thought about posting on Craigslist, but I'm scared of the trolls!), or because they are travelling, or deployed, etc etc whatever.

It's fascinating, but I guess it's not really that strange when you think about it - without a face, my soulmate appeared as like- idk, a spirit animal?? It was a beautiful wolf, all black with bright blue eyes. We were playing hide and seek, maybe, in Washington Square Park of all places. I think that's what was going on, because he kept watching me, as I ran around the park, until he barked at me! I waited, but he never came over to greet me. Sadface! 

The wolf was sad, he sat in the park, howling, over and over waiting for a reply, but I am apparently an otter (why?) so I couldn't. I kept trying to crawl over, but it seemed like the closer I got, the further away he was. Which, okay. Dreams are so weird though. I mean, I think it was a shared dream. Most of the time reporting is after the fact, so you don't know until you can ask your soulmate if they recall the dream. I guess it's possible I was just - fretting in my own way about it, and it came out in a dream. But I don't think I'd have dreamed I was an otter, if it was just me?? Time will tell, I guess.

I took my own advice to myself in my previous post, and told my friend that lives in Boston. She took to the subject like a banshee to screaming, and she's been feeding me all kinds of fascinating research.

There's some conjecture that the bond is actually genetic. That some people aren't genetically predisposed to making bonds, or perceiving the empathy that comes with it. I don't know how I feel about that, and they haven't found any particular sequence, or single, gene that they feel at all secure in calling the Bond Gene, as they refer to it. I have a few thoughts on the topic, since I only know one bonded couple, and my research buddy is one half of it. Her soulmate is - guys I feel bad saying it because she is a strawberry blonde goddess of science, math and general awesomeness, but her bondmate is a DOUCHE. They get along super well though, you can't explain that! But the really weird thing about it- is that they'd known each other for YEARS before the bond snapped into place in sophomore year. 

If it's onset is during puberty, is it actually hormonal or ... I have no idea.

It makes me want to be a scientist, but I have a rocking career in the works, and an internship waiting for me to finish. So, I guess I'll just have to make PubMed articles work for me instead. 

Alas (Earwax)!

#soulmates #imay #hpreferencesnevergetold #sheblindedmewithscience #shareddream

* * *

Derek wishes he could have slept today away. He'd taken an eighteen hour shift, an extra four hours for Mindy who hadn't cared either way, but was happy to get out a bit early on a Friday, hoping to tire himself out enough to miss a larger part of the day. But instead, he's awake after his usual five hours of sleep. Laura is awake, sitting on the floor in the living room, bundled up in a blanket, hair still sleep mussed from last night, and staring at a photo of their family.

It's the anniversary today. Eleven years ago today, a monster that Derek had kissed, caressed and slept with, had surrounded their home in mountain ash, and set it alight. They'd lost most of their family that day - Talia and Michael, Cora, little Miles and Logan. Peter's wife had been pregnant, and they'd lost them both, and truly, they'd lost Peter that day too, it'd just taken him a few more years to leave. 

Laura had decided to run. The den was compromised, and they'd fled. She'd had college to come back to, and they'd moved into a small shitty apartment for a year or so, until the insurance money had paid for the brownstone they were now living in. She'd let him wallow for a while, before she'd forced him to get up in the morning, and made him sit his SATs, ACTs, get a GED, and apply to a school. 

After he'd started school, an unspoken rule had been established. They were allowed one day. One day, on the anniversary, they were allowed to fall apart. To feel the phantom limbs that were their absent pack members. Laura typically spent it in the living room, pretending nothing else existed but the three of them. James spent it taking care of Laura, mostly. Derek often did his best to sleep through it. 

"Hey, Pup," she said, looking up at him with tear reddened eyes.

He sits down next to her in her blanket and pillow nest, and leans his head on her shoulder. He can't say anything. He whines, and she wraps an arm around him. "Hungry?"  
Derek shakes his head no. "Feeling sorry for my bondmate."

She tilted her head. Derek had been pretty quiet about his bond, since they'd found it. "Why?"

"If they're feeling- all this-" he says, rubbing his chest, and lets the implications go unsaid. His sister knows. His alpha knows. 

"I'm sure they'll forgive you."

"They shouldn't," he says quietly, and then, "you shouldn't."

Laura frowns, and grips Derek's arm, when she senses him tense, and hears his heartbeat raise, "For what, Derek?" 

Derek can tell James is listening, even if he can't see him, because the noise of James making his wife tea in the kitchen ceases. 

"For everything. The hunter that burned down the house. She-" he stops unsure what to even say. How do you say it? "I knew her. I knew her, and I trusted her, and - she knew about us. I let her in."

Laura whimpers, and grabs his arm, squeezing as tightly as she can. "Look at me, Derek Hale." He complies, because his wolf complies. "You think I don't know about that bitch that hurt you? You smelled like her all the time. We thought- Mom and Dad thought it was good that you were moving on after Paige. We weren't sure who it was, but you were happier, Derek. I'm not going to sugar coat this shit for you, nobody was happy when you came home wearing her scent like you'd rolled in it- like sex.

"I smelled her that day. The day of the fire. I knew."

Derek whimpers, "Laura-"

"This isn't your fault, Derek."

"I led the way."

Laura flashes her eyes at him, and James comes in, empty-handed, and sits on the overstuffed chair, close in case he's needed. "Did you lead her to the house? That day, did you hold her hand and walk her to the door?"

"What? No! I would never do that! I loved our family. Our pack."

Laura sighs. "Then you didn't. She knew what we were, and probably where we were. You were a twisted bonus. You weren't there when Peter killed her, and I wouldn't wish that memory on you. But she was gloating, Derek. Gloating about the fact that Mom wasn't the Alpha anymore- that the best alpha the Hale Pack had to show for itself was - broken and crazy. She asked where her little boy was. And I wasn't sorry when Peter found her, and ripped her throat out on the front porch of what was left of the house. I got a good look at her though. Before she was dead. She looked about my age, Derek."

Derek nods. "She was twenty-three- then," he says quietly, just above a whisper.

Laura stares at him. "You were sixteen, Derek! She tricked you. She lied to you, and she hurt you."

Laura stops talking, and take a deep shuddering breath, like she always does when tears are imminent, or have finished. "She's still hurting you. She's keeping you from the other half of yourself. I know the last two therapists we tried didn't work out. But you're going to go- again. We'll find the right doctor, and you're going to work through this. You're punishing yourself. I - didn't really see it until the bond settled, but I get it now. And that is not fucking happening anymore. Do you understand?"

Derek almost whispers, "Yes."

Laura breathes in deeply, and exhales slowly, still shuddering, and clears her throat. "Okay. New Business. The annual day of moping is done. From today on, on October 28th, we talk about the happy memories of our pack. Sad thoughts are going to happen, and that's okay, but the focus is on celebrating who they were, not who they aren't today."  
Derek nods, and James is smiling at his wife like she's a genius. James' love for Laura is absolute, and a little dopey, but Derek things that suits just fine.

She grins, and looks over at Derek. "So, I never told mom, because - she probably knew in the way that she always knew everything, but- Miles used to steal my makeup."  
Derek makes a face, amused and disbelieving. "What did he do with it?"

"So, one day I was babysitting, and - you were out at basketball, and I was stuck home babysitting, and I was watching Dress to Kill- that Eddie Izzard show- on my laptop. He thought the male-tomboy thing was brilliant. Running, jumping, climbing trees, putting on make-up. I don't know, it was pretty cute. He said one time, he liked it because it make him look like Mommy. And I asked if he didn't want to look like Dad, and he said he always looked like dad. But, he liked to look like Mommy sometimes. 

"And, we used to have days where we'd go out in the preserve, and I'd help him put on some lipstick, and eye shadow, and he'd run around, and say things like Mom used to, and laugh, and I'd tell him he was 'a silly little pup, and he should go clean up because it was almost time for dinner, didn't he know that? Where is the sun, Miles?' And he'd laugh until his sides hurt, and he'd crawl on my lap when he was done, and I'd help him take off the make-up, and we'd play tag until we got home."

Derek can't help it, he's crying, but it's a good hurt. It's good to remember little Miles, being adorable and silly. It feels good to remember him that way, and not the way he'd died. "Do you remember the mimicking thing that Cora used to do? She'd follow you around, or me, or Aunt Tara, and try and move the same way? And the way she'd get caught on a scent, and spend twenty minutes smelling a cabinet."

James laughs. "Really?"

Laura grins, "Yeah, some scent issues there, but it was so funny. And then she'd stop and go 'huh' and when you asked what had smelled so good she'd just shrug and pretend it didn't happen."

James leaves the chair and joins them in the blankets, and Laura chuckles to herself, "Mom would be so mad, she'd yell at us for making a mess, and off-moon snuggling."  
Derek huffs in agreement, but replies anyway, "I think she'll forgive us."

Laura hmms back, and leans against James' chest. "Naptime now?"

There's no reply, and Derek wasn't tired when he came downstairs, but he is now, emotionally wrung out, and feeling fragile, and James says nothing, but Derek wakes later to Laura laughing at a movie he remembers his mom liking, and throwing popcorn at James, and he's covered in kernels and bits of salt, and it's the first time in a long time he's felt okay. 

His soulmate is also feeling - relief?

Derek focuses on feeling regret- he is sorry for what he's no doubt put his bondmate through, even if he hadn't wanted to. He's pleasantly surprised when a wave of joy washes over him. He still doesn't know what's funny, but he's laughing anyway.

* * *

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


October 29, 2016

Soulmate,  
Yesterday you sent me on the emotional equivalent of Mr Toad's Wild Ride. We scared the shit out of Selina. She was fretting, and googling, and calling our friend trying to get answers.

I was up half the night crying. I'm not sure why, and I wasn't personally sad, but I couldn't seem to stop anyway. Then it faded to the dull sort of nothing I think might be sleep (which why were you sleeping from 9:30 AM until 2 PM? But whatever!) And then there was sort of angry-sad-scared in turns, and then like- some happy? And then more sleep, and then we did the thing we did. 

THAT WAS AWESOME.

Go us, being all supportive and stuff. 

#soulmates #imay #bondbreakthrough #awesome #SelinaSaysShesMadAtYou


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Derek and Stiles are surprised by The Resonance.

Chapter Four

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


January 5, 2017

The most amazing thing happened today! I was in Grand Central, which is different for me, but I wanted to run into Spices and Tease, since I was uptown for a class. They have a few really good tea blends, and sometimes I like them for me, and sometimes I buy them as presents for Selina when I have driven her nuts, or she had a bad day. And this morning's rush at the cafe was INSANE, and I might have bumped into her, and she might have gotten an apron full of cheese omelet. So, I owed her. It was my fault, I'm being nice and announcing it to the internets, just for you, bae. 

SO ANYWAY.

I was in Grand Central, and I was walking across the main concourse, because I like to look at it. It was a little out of my way, I could have gotten off the six train, and I didn't have to go up stairs, to go to the market, but it's not far. Anyway, I was standing in the main concourse, because it's beautiful, shut up- and I felt it. At first I didn't know what it was, and then it got stronger, and then I got it. 

You must have felt it soulmate, the Resonance between our souls, like a buzzing, but it feels nice. I'm not sure I can explain it, it's an emotional pleasure more than a physical one, but it's also a little physical, because it sort of zips along your skin, and started as itchiness. I ran up to the apple store to see if I could see anyone also looking for someone. No dice.

It wasn't for long, you were probably switching trains or something, but - you were there. You aren't - a once in a lifetime visitor, you're - around. I can't tell you the relief it is to know that. It felt like I could just reach out and grab you by the arm. 

I also may have had an insane moment where I wanted to shout "It's me! I can feel you. I'm here!" but I don't think the NYPD appreciates people making scenes, and it would have been, and you might have run from the embarrassment, and then it was fading anyway. 

But, soulmate, it happened. It'll happen again. 

#soulmates #imay #resonance

* * *

Derek gets on the train at 59th & Lexington, feeling unsettled. He'd just been at Grand Central and got a taste of The Resonance. Part of Derek had desperately wanted to walk off up the uptown six and get right back on the downtown six and find his soulmate. But he'd had an appointment with his therapist, and she'd been - decent so far. She knows about weres, and what happened to his family - at least the fire. She's apparently acquainted in some weird Emissary fashion to Alan Deaton, who was their mother's emissary and is standing in- for now, for which everyone is very grateful.

Derek hasn't seen him since he was a kid, but Laura goes back once a year or so, for the rites that tie them to the Hale territory, and they get on well enough, it seems. Derek knows better than to ask what Laura's long terms plans are for an emissary, but he'd overheard James ask her once, and she'd said- she was waiting. Derek has no idea what that means, but it could reasonably be some Alpha thing he's never going to understand. 

The session is fine, he's disconnected today - distracted, and he leaves with his metaphorical tail tucked between his legs, after she scolds him for holding back by saying it's okay, but she wants to talk about it next week. It's actually one of the things he likes about Dr Morell- she doesn't let him slide. She seems to know when to press her luck, and when things are bad enough that she needs to back off. Sometimes she seems to know better than Derek which is which. 

He's pretty sure she'd let him have a pass today. She'd asked why he'd gone into nursing, and he'd told her the story about the nurse after the fire in the hospital, and she'd just nodded, and they'd talked about it a bit more until the fifty minutes were nearly up when she'd called him on it. Laura would like her a lot. 

He gets off the subway, and walks the remaining blocks home. When he gets in, Laura has turned the living room into a disaster area of paperwork and books, and her ipad full of legal texts is in her hand, and she's swiping over and over. Derek grins, and sits in the overstuffed chair. "Looks like you're busy. James making dinner, or I can call for some take out?"

Laura looks up, eyes wider than usual like he's startled her. "Take out is good. Thai?"

"Sure."

Dinner is quiet, Laura has her head in her tablet still, and James took his upstairs to eat, but Derek has been as patient as he physically can, before he blurts out, "I felt it today. I felt my soulmate today."

Laura looks up, a deer in the headlights, and blinks twice before asking, "What?"

Derek frowns, she must be deep into it, if she hasn't computed the answer to that. "The resonance."

She tosses the tablet on the table. "Tell me! Tell me! Detail! Where?"

He tells her, and sighs when he's finished. "It was only for a minute. I was switching from the six express to the four local. Closures, and- I felt it at Grand Central."

She grins. "That's great, Derek. You'll find it each other."

Derek doesn't answer, he just stands, and clears the plates off the table. "I know. And, I'm - I feel like I can actually - that it'll be okay now. I like Morell, she's - well she's not nice, but she's what I need. So thank you, Alpha."

Laura beams. "Good."

"Get back to work. I'll bring you coffee later, and I'll check on your mate, make sure he's not written until his fingertips bleed."


	6. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Hales find the blog, and Stiles gets way more online attention than he bargained for.

Chapter 5

Laura is grinning like a fool at the tablet screen. It'd started when James had sent her a Facebook message with a link to a post on Reddit. The post title had just been Hey Let's Get This Searcher Some Visibility--- He's Hilarious (tumblr search blog) on the r/soulbonds subreddit. James had said it made his front page, which- was surprising. She'd read the entire thing, even the stupid posts where he rambled on for no reason she could discern about why Batman was better than Superman, and in one funny instance an entire description of his morning at work where he'd worked at what he called the Continental Counter, and taught a group of old men about Twitter (You tweet, and it's called a Tweet, not twittering- which, she agreed was completely adorbs - his words), security settings on Facebook, and the basics of Reddit, and recommended one particularly funny guy, that he try out playing a new game, because he needed things to keep his hands busy all day, apparently. 

And she'd been amused, but it wasn't until she'd made it all the way back to October that she realized why her husband had sent her the link. The resonance incident at the train station could have been absolutely nothing, a coincidence, and she wasn't sure about the date - other that it'd been winter already for sure - but she'd been distracted by the Myers case, and couldn't say for sure. 

But this was definitive. The worst day of the year, and this poor boy had been a wreck of - Derek's pain, and guilt, and despair, and then the relief that came at their new strategy for dealing with the Anniversary.

She read all the way back to the start, for completeness reasons. She learned that Derek had sat on the knowledge that he'd had a bond- either denying it or punishing himself much longer than she'd thought, as well. 

Laura copies the provided email, and pastes it into her client. 

To: ImagineMeAndYouS@gmail.com  
From:lhale@MBHLaw.com  
Date: February 18, 2017  
Subject: Your bondmate  
I'm certain by now you'll have noticed that your little blog has blown up. My husband found it on reddit, and sent it to me. I'm pretty sure that your bondmate is my brother. October 28 is the worst day of the year for us, our home burned down, and we lost most of our family, and - it's a horrible disaster of a day, and we usually lock ourselves in, and wait for it to end. 

This year was different. He's been punishing himself for what he feels was his fault. What happened to our family was in no way his fault, but someone horrible made him think that way. I can't explain it, I think that's something for him to explain someday. 

I think it's too big a coincidence for it to not be him. No promises, but I think so. 

He's a great guy, I promise. But he's working through some issues. 

You guys are going to find each other. You live in the city. We live in Brooklyn. Have patience, the universe will make sure you find your way to each other.He won't appreciate his big sister getting involved, and so I'm only a little bit sorry that I am, but I wanted to give you some hope. 

Keep going, S.  
Laura (future sister in law) :D

* * *

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


February 20, 2017

So, thanks for the Reddit hug of death. (Okay, so tumblr didn't crash, but my inbox might have if it wasn't you know, hosted somewhere awesome.) I have a thousand comments to go through, and I'm sorry I won't answer everybody's individual questions. I'll go through the highlights.

_Why are you S, when Selina gets a fake name?_  
I call her that anyway, every day. It's not her real name, it's a reference to Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. Anyway. I didn't use my real name because it's .. pretty identifiable. I know Manhattan has millions of people living here, but I'm probably the only one here with this horrible name. Why not a fake name? Because Bruce is a horrible name, even if I STILL MAINTAIN THAT BATMAN IS THE BEST SUPERHERO EVER. So, just S. 

_You're just making this up!_  
Dude, I have got better things to do than this. I work part time, and am doing a double-major at NYU, one of which requires a work-study that takes up many of my hours. Believe me when I tell you my free-time is short, and my rent is high.

_Do you know your soulmate's gender?/Do you care?_  
I really don't care. I'm pansexual, so I.. have no particular preference. I like people, no matter what equipment they have. I haven't dated that much, to be honest. My first kiss was with a girl. My first time was with a girl. But I've been with a man, and had a lot of fun in my senior year, hanging out with the awesome drag queens at our local gay club. Those ladies had the best sense of humor, and lacked a single judgmental bone in their entire bodies. I learned a lot from them about myself. I miss them. But short answer, long- don't care. I don't know for certain, but I get the impression it's a guy, just from - I can't put my finger on why, but I do. But I don't care what equipment comes with whoever is on the other end of this. Not at all.

_You posted this yourself for karma!!_  
I really didn't. I.. don't care about fake points online, but if you want to think that, that's cool? I actually didn't know there was an r/soulbonds, but now I do, so I'll be around. 

_Have things been better lately? (It seems like you've mentioned your soulmate feeling unhappy/hurt less)_  
Yes it has been better. There's still bad days, but nothing like that one day, and we've been bolstering each other up, and communicating through the bond occasionally. Sort of like --  
Me: Curious/Worried/Intent  
Him(Maybe): Pleased/ZenHappy (I don't know how to else to explain this feeling, it's like being super chill but with hints of happy at the edges) /Curious/Intent  
Me: Whatever I'm feeling. Which sometimes is overwhelmed, or tired, or happy or whatever/Grateful

I do still get the weird honey thoughts sometimes, but like maybe once a month. And honestly, on the bad days - I understand. My mom died when I was a kid and it took a LONG TIME before I was even close to healthy upstairs. I don't know if it was a loss or not, but the hurt feels an awful lot like grief, when it's not just - idk, despair? That's a pretty intense word, but I think it might be accurate. :(

So, thanks everybody for visiting. I have a LOT more questions to sift through. I won't get around to answering all of them. I am busy a lot, but I'll try and hit the important ones, and some of the funny ones because it's fun and my soulmate might enjoy them.

x - s.

#soulmates #imay #reddithugs #sanswersyourquestionspt1

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


February 25, 2017

Okay. I'm back. Sorry I was busy. So, some of this is serious, I want to get through that first. 

To the handful of Media Representatives that have contacted me for interviews: No. Sorry, that's not going to happen. I don't want the attention, and I'm absolutely certain that my bondmate is not in a place where that would be healthy. Sorry, won't change my mind. Go away. 

_Have I gotten any replies from people that think they might be a candidate for my bondmate?_

I have gotten lots of encouragement, and some long heartfelt emails from fellow searchers- that are still searching, or couples who were searching at one time- that were very kind, and encouraging, and helpful. Also a few from some people that wanted me to help them get with the new fangled social media stuff, which I'm totally going to do for them. I've found that people that don't get it, don't get it because they don't know how to start, not because they're old.

I got an email from a friend of mine from high school that I'd lost touch with that recognized the awesome twosome of Batman and Catwoman. I'm more excited about this than I thought I would be, because if I'm honest, he was sort of a loner and quiet, but I'm excited to meet people again, especially free from high school.

I did get an email from a woman who thinks my soulmate is her brother. I won't talk about that, it's not a sure thing, and she basically said she wasn't willing to do an introduction, and we'd find each other when we found each other, and they're local, and we will find each other. It's encouraging, but nothing is 100% until her brother is standing in front of me. I kind of understand her stance. I'm being nice about it today, even if I was a fucking asshole about it for two days, and drove my best friend nuts about it on the phone. BONUS! It got him on a plane to come cheer me up! :)

_Why a blog?_  
I covered this, but short answer: The internet - has something for everybody- everybody goes online looking for something. Maybe, my soulmate will go online and look for me. 

_Why Are You Doing This?_  
I wasn't really sure on this question. Why am blogging the experience? For my soulmate, some. He can go back and see it from where I'm sitting. But, hey, I've gotten a lot of really needed support from others, and maybe someday I'll be able to help another person that's separated from their soulmate, and that would be great. 

 

Amusing Stuff:

_DC or Marvel?_  
BOTH. Who doesn't love The Captain? I like a little variety in my comics. It's not as important to me as an adult-ish, but I still love them. See other extensive rants about Batman.

_Thanks Reddit, Fight 100 ducks or one HORSE sized Duck?_  
Do I have to do it alone? I can make a little Scooby Team? If I can, then definitely 100 ducks. My bro's wife could take on like 50 all on her own, because she is badass. If I had to do it on my own, I think I'd go for the single target for strategy reasons. 

_If one vegetable ever became sentient, what would the worst one to be sentient?_  
Cabbage. It'd smother you in smelly leaves. It'd be horrible. You'd spend eternity smelling like St Patrick's Day. I thought about saying all the veggies I don't like- I particularly am not fond of cauliflower, but that'd be really easy to see the dark, which is strategically beneficial for humankind.

I don't think Broccoli, or sprouts - the other natural options have little by way of offensive options, I think cabbage is the definite winner. 

Additionally I have a horrifying image of a cabbage that opens up all its leaves and it has a scary human face under all of it, and it's just too creepy for words. So thanks for that one. :p

_Your favorite candy is only one candy left in the world. Which one is it?_  
That's hard! That's a mean question, commenter! Like-- who wants to go without chocolate -- ever. But, honestly, I think I'm going to have to go with Red Vines. Sorry!

_Cats or Dogs?_  
I love dogs, (haha dog jokes!), but I have a cat. She is gorgeous, and we got her at the shelter as a scrawny little kitten, and she is now a beautiful lioness of annoyingly long ginger fur that gets everywhere. She's super cute, and likes to sit on shelves and scoff at her human minions as they go by. That is how she rolls. And because Selina named her, it's after Buffy but I demanded that my little girl kitty be named correctly, so her name is Miss Kitty Fantastica. We mostly call her Tas.

That's all the stuff I can fit in. Thanks for the visibility guys, it probably actually did help me! Aww Reddit, you love me. I love you too. 

Lastly, and again because I got even more comments after the last post:  
No. I will not post my real name, or my nickname. You may call me Batman if you must call me anything at all. 

Soulmate, maybe this made you smile, and laugh. I hope it did, if you're reading. We'll get there. I can feel it. 

#soulmates #imay #bulkcommentreply #sanswersyourquestionspt2

* * *

It's been a long week, and Derek's happy to be off for three whole days, barring an emergency. It happens, and he can handle the strain of extra hours better than others. He grins, seeing Laura sitting on the kitchen counter, talking to James who is stirring something in a pot, when he gets in. "Hey, I'm home."

Laura grins. "Hey, Pup. James is making dinner. Soup and steak."

Derek makes an appreciative face. Steak. The full moon is coming up, they're all feeling some cravings. "Awesome. Thanks."

It turns out to be perfect steaks, grilled on the outside, and super rare on the inside, and a truly amazing potato soup. They're mostly done eating when Laura says, like it's no big deal, "So, I think we found your bondmate."

Derek blinks, swallows the mouthful of steak he'd been chewing whole, and immediately regrets it, but manages to get out, "What?" around the lump of steak lodged in his esophagus.

She hands him her tablet, and he's staring at the banner across the top of a tumblr account. Imagine Me and You. There aren't any pictures as far as Derek can tell from a quick scroll through, except for one picture of a truly well groomed cat. "Why this ..blog?"

"There's a horrible post the day after - on the 29th."

"Oh."

Laura nods. "You should read it. He's - funny. I'm pretty sure it's a guy. It's never explicitly said, but I think its implied pretty heavily. But, seriously, Derek, it's worth considering. Read it."

He takes the tablet from her outstretched hand, and flips scrolls through it, as he finishes up his dinner. He's completely engrossed in it, reading backwards, when he sees the note about Laura. He checks the date on it, and growls, before glaring at Laura from the dining room, even though she's doing dishes in the kitchen. "Laura, - he mentions your email. A month, and a half ago!" 

"That's what you're focusing on? Shut up, and go read," she says, reentering the dining room and taking the dishes from in front of him.

Derek frowns, and goes upstairs. He loves his sister, but sometimes he hates that she's also his alpha. He feels like a little kid giving up, and going up to his room. But he does want to read more, even if he is annoyed at her- so he goes.

He stays up half the night reading the posts, and clicks the button to reply. 

To: imagineyouandmes@gmail.com  
From dhale89@gmail.com  
Date: April 2, 2017  
Subject: Bondmate  
Hey, my sister emailed you a month ago, about me. We should meet. Call me 212-555-8971.  
Derek Hale

Derek frowns, staring at the screen, annoyed because he can't make himself hit send. He lets gmail save it as a draft, and goes to bed, fed up with his issues. He can talk about this with Dr Morell tomorrow.


	7. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Derek struggles with himself, they both attend a baseball game, and the Yankees are maligned horribly - but probably won.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, my apologies to any Yankees fans. I am actually firmly of the belief that all well-played baseball is good baseball, and usually cheer equally for all sides at games I attend/watch. I am not a Yankees fan personally, but that doesn't mean they deserve the insults that Mets fan Stiles slings. 
> 
>  
> 
> One more chapter tonight, after which we switch to full time story telling, for the next two arcs, and a world that looks a bit more like the one we're used to. Promise.

Chapter Six

Washington Square Park is empty once again. The moon is high in the sky, and full. Despite the fact that it could be starlit, the dream has allowed the light of the city to drown out the stars. Derek the wolf is content and feeling lazy. He has commandeered for himself an abandoned flannel sheet that is laying on the grass as if for a picnic. It's a nice night, it's clear, and not too cool, and he's enjoying the quiet when he hears the splashing. 

The wolf stands up, abandoning the cloth, to approach the fountain in the park, when he sees a dark brown river otter climb out of the central fountain and lay itself out on the granite edge, looking around the park. He can tell the moment the otter notices him, because it's running at him, chattering and weaving around his paws. Derek let's him for a solid minute before, reaching down and gently picking him up in his mouth like pup, and carrying him over to the blanket. He lays down on the blanket, and stares at the otter that is bouncing up and down, making a noise like laughing. 

Derek watches the otter play, and run, and grumbles when the otter headbutts him in the flank. He wuffs at him, quietly, because he doesn't want to scare the creature away either. The otter waggles its way close, and stands up on its hind legs and stares him in the eye. 

Derek fights the wolf's response to feel challenged, and instead looks back. This is his soulmate, somehow, and he slides a paw away from himself, and attempts to gesture to the otter that he is welcome to lay there, and be close. It takes some time, and Derek isn't sure if the otter needed to be convinced, or hadn't understood, but in the end, the otter lays down next to him, curled into his fur, and they cuddle there, content to just be, as they watch the sun pink the sky. 

When he wakes, the sky is the same pink it was in the dream, and he shakes his head. Bonds are uncanny, and bizarre, and he never wanted it, but he's glad he has it. He's glad he has his soulmate.

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


April 12, 2017 

So, this morning I went into the diner for breakfast. It was a quiet morning. The old guys were in, as usual for coffee and muffins. They- were in fine form today, laughing at something that one of their wives had bitched at him about- I think he gave their grandson an entire Chunky bar. Which, I think we can all agree, makes him awesome grandpa material - raisins aside, but is probably a bad idea if you don't want to deal with a sugar rush. 

The thing that really made my morning though, was this adorable couple came in to the diner. They're tourists, visiting from Vancouver, and they were having a blast, taking in all the things NYC has to offer tourists. (I know you're thinking - in April? I have no idea either. The slush is gone though, so. At least that's nice, I guess.)

There are many, but I did about half of them my first semester, and then stopped. Except the Met. I go to the Met at least once a semester. I like to look at all the pictures, and find a new favorite, and snap-chat it to my friend in Boston with a truly tasteless caption. She gets adorably angry, and it's hilarious to watch her brain explode over text. 

Anyway, the couple were a pair forty year old dudes, happy with their trip, staying in The Village, and taking it all in. They had a subway map out on the table, after the coffee, and before the meal, and I showed them a little bit on how to best get around a posted closure late at night, before I brought them their plates.

I was sitting with Selina at the host stand, keeping an eye on everybody, when I noticed what they were doing. They brought out a copy of a newspaper, and the blonde guy divides it up silently into two piles. At the same time, the brunette in thick rimmed glasses, and a total dad sweater is taking the plates apart. The pancakes were condensed to a single plate. The eggs and potatoes were in a single pile. 

I don't think I've ever seen people do this before, but once I'd seen it, it might have been the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. 

They ate from the two plates, completely content to share everything. They ate, and read, and made each other coffee when me or Selina brought refills.

I wanted to ask if they were soulmates, but I didn't want to sound like a creeper or something. But honestly, I don't think it matters. Any couple could share plates, and split a paper like it was something they did every weekend. I'm sure plenty of people actually do that. 

The best/worst part was I was watching them, and I just kept thinking- that could be us. We could be that adorable old couple that's in sync, and happy to just be together at the breakfast table. 

I'm not unhappy. I'm not. I miss my friends on the west coast, but I have friends here in the city, and elsewhere on the east coast. I have my work-study that's fascinating, and plenty of work to do between school and my job. But I miss meaningful human interaction. The kind of you have with someone that you're really sharing yourself with. Dating is out the door, and I'd feel guilty about a one night stand. Ugh. 

So, sub-note in my blog:  
Dear Fate,  
Soon please?  
Thanks ever so, S.

#soulmates #imay

* * *

Derek is sitting at the nursing desk, staring at the email on his phone. He's not on break, but he has a minute, and this unsent email is haunting him. He'd really felt like he could go for it before he'd taken the phone out of his pocket. He wants to hit send. He grumbles, wanting to throw his phone against the wall after hovering over the button for a solid minute.

He's been reading the blog for almost a month now, and he's pretty sure this is the one. He's delighted by so many of the amusing stories, and bizarre rants that his bondmate has included in the blog for him. His stories about his coworkers, school, and whatever seems to pop into his head on any given day. 

His co-worker Marie is grinning at him, when she places a chart on the desk in front of him. "That face looks like girl trouble to me. You holding out on me, Derek? Who is she?"

He chuckles. "No girl. Just - personal stuff. Sometimes things that seem like they should be so easy, are - really not."

She pats his hand. He's so glad for Marie some days. She's trim and petite, with a cloud of curly brown hair that is almost always up in a tail. She's a sweet woman in her early forties that doesn't look at him like he's something she wants to eat up, like some of the nurses do. Instead, she's kind, and is somewhat motherly to him, despite the fact that her own twin boys, Liam and Jack, are less than half his age. "You'll sort it out. Now, can you help me sort out the guy in Exam B? He's solid muscle, and I can't do it on my own."

He stands up to leave and then very deliberately and with great vindictiveness leaves his phone on the desk. It can just sit there, quiet in punishment for being so unhelpful as to not comply with his wish that it'd just send by accident somehow. To date the phone has not yet gotten the memo. "Absolutely can do that. You know you're my favorite."

Marie cackles in glee, and wiggles her fingers together like that old character on The Simpsons. "My evil plan is going so well!" she says, grinning at him before turning on her sensible nursing sneakers, and leading the way to Exam B, while letting out an exaggerated evil cackle. 

Derek ducks his head to hide his grin, when he sees Carly glaring at them as they duck into the room. Carly has been trying to get his attention for months, and he's turned down her offer for many coffees, two lunches, only one smoke break, and one dinner. As such, she feels justified in glaring at him, and any of the other nurses that he is nice to. It's a special kind of fucked up, that even if he hadn't bonded with S, he would have stayed away from with a ten foot pole. 

Later, he pockets his phone before he leaves for the night, but ignores it because it's been bad and not the sent email he didn't technically tell it to send. 

He really wishes he knew his bondmate's name.

* * *

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


May 16, 2017

Okay readers, we're having a serious discussion here today. Because this is serious business. 

I love baseball. It's probably not something I would gravitate to naturally, but my mom loved the Mets. She grew up here in New York, her grandparents came over in the forties and they settled here. My grandfather, who I am named for, took her to games at Shea, when she was a kid, until she left to go to college at Berkley where she met my dad.  
When I was a kid, she used to make me sit and watch the games on television, when they played the Dodgers, or the Padres, and tell me about the players, and the rules of the game. I remember the first time I watched Moneyball, I remember the line where Billy Beane says, "How can you not be romantic about baseball?" and I agree. The history of the game, the feel of the park, the excitement, and the hilarity and camaraderie. (Seriously guys, I just about died laughing when the guy behind me stands up and shouts as loud as he can 'NELSON CRUZ WEARS HIGH HEELED SHOES!' --which he totally can. I'll help him find them. I know who to ask!-- and then turns to the guy sitting with him goes, "Actually, he's a great player, but you gotta give 'em shit, right?')

Before I moved to New York I'd never been to a Mets game. But now that I'm here, I try to get to a few games a season. It's not at Shea anymore, but CitiField is a great place to play, and, if we're all honest with ourselves, fellow Mets fans, our team is not doing so well, and hasn't been great for a while, but dedication does not require wins! That sort of shit is best left to Yankees fans, am I right? :p

The point of this rant (and I have one this time, I'm sure you find this as novel as I do), is that on Saturday I went to the Yankees v. Mets game at CitiField. It was - I have very little idea of what happened during the game. After the game, I asked the friend that went with me, but she just stared at me, and gave me a dirty look and said that men hit balls with sticks and ran around. So, that was no help. Why so distracted, S? You love the game, don't you?

You bet your butt I do! However, S was not the only person at the game. My bondmate was there. It didn't take long for the resonance to build up. It was amazing. My first thought was to try and find them. But, honestly, the stadium was packed. I thought about it, and my only option would be to beg the guy in charge of the kiss cam to help me out, but I didn't think that was a good idea. Things have been good for a while- some pleasant shared dreams, but this was just - really amazing. We were just projecting contentment at each other. 

I was riding back on the subway when a horrible thought occurred to me. MY SOULMATE COULD BE A YANKEES FAN. Fate, say it ain't so. 

All joking aside, I was laying in bed last night, and petting the cat, and I just couldn't help but think - this is the second time I've felt the resonance. It's the third time we've crossed paths. We're going to find each other. We're gonna _win_.

Which is more than I can say for the Mets this year. 

#soulmates #imay #baseballislife #resonance #nymets

* * *

It's just before eight in the morning when Derek rushes down the stairs, and Laura laughs, when he shoves the tablet at her. "What?" she says, grinning into her coffee mug.

Derek frowns. "Do you love me?"

Laura frowns, and looks at the tablet to see S's blog open, and back up to her brother, who is standing there in his sleep pants, and a ratty blue t-shirt that is a hole in the seam where the sleeve attaches, and a bleach stain along the front. "What? You know I do."

"Then do not question me. I will email him. Probably. Soon. But he thinks I'm a Yankees fan. Laura, in the name of all the gods of baseball, please send the poor man an email and put him out of his misery."

Laura stares at him across the kitchen island, and puts her mug down. "Okay."

She opens the email client, and enters a subject quickly, and then writes a quick email and sends it. "There. It's done. I'm not telling you what I wrote, but I did as you asked."

Derek frowns, and wants to know, but he can tell that's a battle that will not end well for him, certainly not if that's only her first cup of coffee. "Thank you?"

"You're welcome. Go away. Coffee time, not people time."

"You do know that you have to drink many gallons to get the effects of caffeine right?"

She glares at him. "Scurrilous lies, I say. Let me drink my nice warm placebo in peace, menace. Be gone!" she says, dismissing him with a flourish, but not before she drags him  
close and huffs in a lungful of his scent, and swipes a hand across the back of his neck.

* * *

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


May 17, 2017

I'm sorry, buddy, it's too good not to share.  
_________  
To: imaginemeandyous@gmail.com  
From: SISTER (PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED)  
Subject: Baseball 

HE'S NOT A YANKEES FAN. YES HE MADE ME SEND THIS. AT EIGHT AM. BEFORE COFFEE. THERE WILL BE A DAY WHEN YOU PAY FOR THIS, S.  
_________

So, I'm not sure why you didn't send this to me yourself, when you desperately wanted me to know, but I don't care. What a relief. We'll be fine. Because, honestly, I can live with anything but that. 

I have a good feeling, though. I'll see you soon.  
-s 

#soulmates #imay #youreonnotice #thankthebaseballgods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The couple in the diner, were actually in Toronto, and I sat there eating breakfast with my husband, and I was kinda awed by the synchronicity, and intimacy, and they showed up when I tried to write this.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Erica has a bad day, and Derek and Stiles finally meet.

Chapter 7

The hospital is busy, and Derek is in a panic. Not a panic of his own making however, because the resonance that started about a half an hour ago has grown, and is overshadowed by worry and concern that is bordering on panic. He can barely focus it's so intense, and his patients need him to be able to do that. Derek isn't sure how else to deal with the situation other than the plan he's put together - which requires assistance. He walks past the desk, and looks over to see one of the normal night nurses there. She's friendly enough. "Hey," he says, pulling out his most charming grin, "have you see Marie?"

Her brow wrinkles, and she shuffles through some charts, before answering, "she's setting up a room, at the moment. In 17?"

"Thanks, Jen," he says, tapping at the desktop, and heading down the hallway. Marie is almost done with the room turnover, so he doesn't feel too bad about pulling the door shut. "I need your help," he says, with no preamble, when she looks up at the sound of the door shutting.

She frowns, as she is making the bed, and adjusting the sheets. "What with?"

"I have a serious problem, and I trust you. You can't share this around the hospital."

"Of course," is the somewhat affronted reply.

"I have a bondmate. We- missed each other. And he's here- in the hospital, somewhere. And he's freaking out, and I have to find him. Because the resonance and the panic that he's broadcasting like a fucking fire alarm, is so distracting that I can't even focus. So I need you to cover my patients until I can find him and calm him down."

"A bondmate? A soulmate? Derek! That's- wow. I- yeah, I got it. Go, but don't be long, you know that Natalie is running the unit today. She's going to notice."

"I know. And I will tell her, but I can't-" Derek pauses, hand on the doorknob. "I can't even think, and I don't want to fuck up, or miss something. I'll - as fast as I can."

She nods. "Go. And don't think you're off the hook mister. I want this cutie front and center before you leave today, no excuses. That's the price."

Derek pouts slightly. "And payment in coffee and the really good KitKats from Tea and Sympathy aren't on the table?"

"No. Now go," she says, finishing up tucking in the blanket on the bed.

He makes a show of sighing, and then tries to take stock. Logically, if S is that upset this is probably not a planned visit. He's fairly certain that unless his bondmate has a doctor phobia, he's here for someone, and not as a patient. He doesn't seem like he's distressed over pain, but - a consuming worry. He decides to start in the ER, sometimes the waits are long, and it's a small time investment in any case to check the lobby and the logs. The elevator is too damned slow, so he takes the stairs. He takes a moment to peek into the waiting area, but despite being full of patients, none of them are even slightly familiar. The resonance hasn't changed, and he feels like proximity might change that. He frowns, and decides he needs to be smarter about this, given that time is short.

He goes back upstairs, and heads for the computer, checking for new inpatients in the last hour. Ten. Three by ambulance. Ambulance is a decent possibility, if he's that panicked. He stares at the list for only a moment before realizing that he's at least got a good chance that he's found the source of his soulmate's distress. 

Brandon Higgs - male, 32, vehicle strike internal trauma in surgery.  
Erica Reyes female, 21, seizure possible head trauma, minor burns  
Michael Greaves, 56, cardiac arrest.

He heads up to neurology. Erica Reyes is probably around his bondmate's age, by Derek's best guess- if he's still in college, he probably isn't more than 22. If this is a bust, he'll - try something else. Neurology is quiet, a few nurses, one of which looks up at him, eyebrow raised in curiosity, but Derek knows- Derek can feel- his bondmate. He heads to the end of the hall to the visitor's waiting room.

His bondmate is just - there. He's sitting, barely, on the very edge of the sofa, one leg bouncing restlessly, as he bites at his thumbnail, and stares into the middle distance. He looks up a few seconds later, either he's noticed the change in Derek's state or he's just processed the new addition to the room. He has a face that isn't classically handsome, but it's striking with a smattering of moles, and a ski jump nose under big brown doe eyes and long lashes. His dark brown hair is a mess from running his hands through it presumably, and he's the most beautiful creature Derek has ever seen. He only notices the stains on his jeans from the knees down, once he sits, dragging an end table in front of his bondmate's chair, and sitting on it. His heart is pounding, but this time he can do it, there's no button to push, and he leans forward, resting his elbows against his thighs. 

"Hello."

The guy gives him a small smile. "Hi. I'm sorry, I'm probably freaking you out, huh?"

Derek nods, "I had to get a friend to cover my patients so I could find you. Are you okay?"he asks, worried, even as the first whiff of his bondmate's scent reaches him, tantalizing and intoxicating. He smells like home- like oak wood, the musty smell of fall's dead leaves, and rich, warm earth under the summer sun, and something sort of metallic that he can't put his finger on.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. It's - " he frowns, clearly derailed. "I'm Stiles."

What the hell kind of name is Stiles? is the first thing that pops into Derek's mind, but he can roll with it. "Derek."

"I know. I remember. The smoking hot nurse that drink eight shots of espresso in one go. Which I still maintain is a horrifically bad idea."

Derek frowns, trying to remember doing that. "I did that? Right in front of you?"

"Uh - yeah, man. Well, you went outside and did, but I could see you from the coffee stand. You said you wouldn't, and then you did."

"I really don't remember that, but I believe you. I- eight shots you say?"

Stiles nods. "Yeah. You don't remember?"

"If I walked into a cafe and ordered eight shots, I was probably dead on my feet."

"And then you left with a hot girl. And I said to myself, well, if he dies, he'll go out in the arms of that, so life's not all cruel. "

Derek shakes his head, chuckling under his breath. "That - oh." He frowns, as he vaguely remembers meeting Laura in Union Square to go to their finance guy. "That's my sister,   
actually. So we'll never think about that ever again. Now that you're a little calmer, why don't you tell me what's going on?"

Stiles' anxiety ratchets up again, and Derek reaches over and takes his hand. "Calmly. Take a deep breath, and then try again." 

Stiles does as he's told, and then explains. "We were at work-- and she was in the back, in the kitchen, and I heard a crash. When I ran back Erica was on the floor, having a seizure, and there was hot coffee everywhere. She must have dropped it. The paramedics aren't sure if she hit her head or not. One of the cooks said he thought she had." 

Derek frowns. "Is Erica - Selina?"

Stiles nods, "Yeah."

Derek is now keenly aware of why Stiles is so upset. It's become clear from his many posts that they are - for lack of a better term- each other's anchor's so far from home. "Okay. Does she have seizures - normally?"

Stiles shrugs. "She has epilepsy. She's had it for- as long as I've known her. But she hasn't had a seizure in almost two years. She seemed fine all morning."

Derek strokes his hand. He sounds, earnest, and distressed, and Derek wants to cuddle him, which is new. He doesn't generally want to touch anybody other than Laura and James. "It's okay. She's here, she's being taken care of, right?"

"Yeah. I- I called her parents, and let them know. But- nobody is going to tell me anything."

"It's good that you did. It will make things easier for her, and for us. But, no they probably won't unless instructed. But I can make sure they let you know when she's okay for visitors."

"Okay. That's - something," he says, returning to chewing on his thumb for a moment, before he puts his hands back in his lap. "I'm sorry, that - we met like this. And not, you know- I see you from across a crowded room, or- you know- anything that isn't me having a panic attack, nearly," is blurted out, and Stiles is deliberately not looking at him.

"There's nothing wrong with this." and then, "What sort of name is Stiles?" he asks, horribly curious, but honestly he gets why he didn't put that online. 

"It's short for Stilinski. Which is my last name. My first name is spelled like a sneeze. It's for the best that we ignore it exists."

Derek nods, amused. "It's a deal. I have to go back upstairs, but I'll stop in at the desk, and let them know you're worried, and waiting to see her. Don't leave, though. Okay?"

"Got it."

Derek nods, and it's - one of the hardest things he's ever done, to walk away. He wants to touch his bondmate, to roll in his scent, and rub his own all over him. He wants to taste him, and learn him and hold him, and tell him that everything is going to be fine. The nurses at the desk, promise to let him know when she's ready for visitors, and he heads back downstairs.

Downstairs, nothing has changed. The unit is exactly the way he left it, and Marie is smiling. "Everything okay?"

"Okay enough. His best friend had a seizure at work. He hasn't heard anything, and he was freaking out. I've talked him down anyway. Thanks, Marie."

"Hey, its fine. You're good?"

"For now. I'm going to go talk to Nat, though, and see if I can get out early. I'm - distracted at best. I'll bring him down before I leave. Promise."

She nods. "You better! Go, and then go check on 3."

Natalie says she'll let him know, and is- super pissed from the scent of her, but he lets it go, it's not really unreasonable. Three is doing good, his fever is coming down, and he's keeping the water down, which is a great sign. In between patients he ducks into the bathroom, and texts Laura.

To Laura [13:41]: I found him. He made me coffee the day we went and saw the financial planner.   
From Laura [13:45]: Congrats! Pics or it didn't happen. 

He's dismissed two hours later, with a 'you fucking owe me, Hale' from Carly, and he's annoyed that he owes her, but for his bondmate he'll live with it. He finds Stiles in Erica's room now, sitting in the chair at the end of the room with a view out the window, and of the bed. "Hey."

Erica is awake, looking tired and washed out, but she's a beauty, with a mane of blonde curls and dark brown eyes. "Nurse Derek. Nice to see you again," she says, smirking at Stiles. 

"Nice to meet you. It's nice to have a face to put to the name."

She grins. "Damn straight. So, whatever are you going to do with my Batman?"

"Kinda up to him," he says, looking over at Stiles, who is a bit wide-eyed.

Which is when Erica grins. "Oh, hey, our bet!"

"No, no mentions of the bet. Let's not scare off my smoking hot bondmate, okay? Okay! You know what, we're going to take a walk. I'm so glad you're okay. Okay enough to be left alone so I can go have a vending machine date with Derek, here."

She's laughing as Stiles drags him out of the room. He hears her shout after them, "Don't break it for once, Stilinski!"

Stiles sighs. "I'm sorry, this is like- baptism by fire."

Derek stops halfway down the hallway, and pulls Stiles into a corner, a little bit desperate to be near him, the resonance is a calm buzz under his skin, even if Stiles is feeling a little uncomfortable. "It isn't though. Not for me. You told me all about her. I've gotten to know you, even if you haven't been able to do the same. You don't have to worry about scaring me off, or whatever it is you're worrying about in there."

"I am a worrier. You're going to have to learn to live with that."

"I'm sure I can, but not if it's needless." He sighs. "I think we should go slow, as tempting as you are. Can I get your phone number?"

There's a moment when his bondmate is just starting at him, before saying, "Yeah! Yeah, totally. Give me your phone." Derek grins when he takes a selfie, and adds it as his contact image, before handing it back, and digging his own phone out. 

Derek does the same, and then pauses. "Any chance I can get a normal picture? Laura is demanding pics or it didn't happen."

Stiles laughs, "of course she is." He grins, and grabs Derek's hand, before walking to the nurses' station. "Hey, can you take a picture for me? Pretty please. I'll buy you all coffee."

This earns him a photo, and Derek does his best to not get too close, to be polite, but Stiles is pulling him close, and wrapping an arm around the back of his neck. "Smile, dude!"  
Derek does his best, but he's not known for his smiles, and he thanks them for the picture. 

"Text me that, please?"

"Sure."

They head back to Erica's room, and Derek pauses. "So, I'll text you. "

Stiles nods, rocking slightly on his heels. "And I will also text you."

Derek doesn't know what to do. It's awkward. They're soulmates, and its awkward, because do you hug? Shaking hands is so formal? It only takes a moment, and Stiles is putting him out of his misery, and gives him a quick backslapping man hug, and then a nod, before ducking into the room. He's on his way out when he hears Erica say, "So, you won the lottery, huh?"

Marie settles for the picture, cooing, but Derek wouldn't be surprised to find out she'd sneaked downstairs to catch a peek of the real thing. He doesn't want to know. 

That night he shows Laura the picture, and she cackles in glee, and steals it to show James. He isn't sure it's that amusing, but he's glad she's happy. 

To Stiles [22:33]: Hope Erica's recovering as well as she seemed to be. Don't forget to make good on that promise of coffee, or they will cut you.   
To Derek [22:35]: Dude, my step mom is a nurse, I know better than to promise coffee and not make good. What kind of monster do you think I am?!   
To Stiles [22:39]: Well, you are a Mets fan.  
To Derek [22:45]: ... Did you just - no. I will talk to you no more today.   
To Derek [22:55]: xo

From Unknown Number [23:10]: OMG you broke Stiles. I love you already. He nearly gave himself an aneurysm trying to figure out how to say goodnight after he said he wouldn't. I am going to need so much popcorn.

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


June 5, 2017

Echo Base this is Rogue Two. I found him. I repeat, I found him.

#soulmates #imay #hellonurse #whowonthehottielottery #thisguy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it. This is the end of the first arc. It's not the end of the blog, but it doesn't appear frequently. 
> 
> They've found each other now. Now they have to figure out how to fit with each other.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Derek and Stiles start to get to know each other, but leave out the important things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry for the wait, I was away for work, and then super busy trying to catch up on life. Thanks for all the kudos and comments, guys I love them!!

"Stilinski, get over here!" The shout comes from across the diner. It's Gene, his favorite member of the Old Dudes Coffee Society, as he likes to think of it, and he gives him a nod, and then goes back to refilling coffee, and ends at the continental counter where he is sitting, with Max, and Irene. They are all in their usual Friday best- khakis, and plaid shirts under cardigans - seriously, they are seventy year old hipsters. Gene even wears a beanie. And well, Irene has a cute beige shirt with tiny black hearts on it, but whatever, it's under a cardigan.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he asks, starting with the refills. He's going to have to duck into the back for more to finish the counter though. 

 

"How's Erica?" is the question, from Irene. "We were all so worried yesterday, when they carried her out, poor girl. You went with her, right?"  
"Yeah, yeah, I went with her. Uhm, she's doing all right. I'm sorry to say her sass-o-meter is completely unaffected, but she's doing great. They did a CAT scan last night, and she's getting results this morning. If they come back good, they're going to discharge her this afternoon. They happen, but we weren't sure if she'd hit her head, so they were playing it safe."

Max is eyeballing him though. "And why are you here, and not there- taking care of your lady?"

Stiles tilts his head, surprised by their assumption. Not that it's never happened, but not lately. "Uhm, because we need to make rent? And, strictly speaking, she isn't mine. Not that we didn't try. Oh boy, did we. It was a 'best of times, worst of times' sort of situation. I have a person, though, now. It's nice. I have faith that Catwoman will find herself a little something," he says, grinning. "I'm going to grab another pot. Back in a sec!" he says, unashamedly running the fuck away from that conversation. 

He grabs, and another pot of coffee, and the plate that's up for table 12, detouring to deliver it, before returning to fill Irene's mug. He's just about ready to run again when he feels it. "Oh. Well, hey, guys, you get to meet him. He's on his way in."

The door opens, and Derek walks in, hands tucked into his jacket pockets-- his leather jacket pockets. In June. What the fuck it's like 90 degrees and humid out there. Stiles smiles, suddenly self-conscious of his apron, and sleep deprived look. He'd stayed at the hospital all night in a super uncomfortable chair, before running home to shower and change before coming in this morning. Derek, however, looks amazing. He had joked on his blog about winning the hottie lottery, but honestly, Derek's cheekbones alone are stunning. That doesn't even take into consideration those eyes, or his jawline, or the light stubble that has his knees turning to jelly. Look it's a thing, okay. Stiles leaves the counter, and heads for the door to greet him. "Hey," Stiles says, leaning over the host stand. 

"Hi. I thought I'd drop in. See if - maybe you wanted to do something later?"

Stiles grins, seeing the trees despite the forest. "You could have texted me that. You wanted to see me."

Derek blushes slightly, shrugging out of his jacket. "I admit nothing."

Stiles grins, and pulls him into a one armed side hug. "You can come sit with the Cool Old Dudes. "

"Uh, sure," he says, following Stiles to the back of the diner. It's pretty busy for just past eleven. There's a number of booths packed with summer students studying at laptops, and book covered tables, as they drip syrup on their papers, while attempting to stuff large forkfuls of pancakes into their mouths. A mom and two kids is filling one, attempting to get her son to not use his jam covered toast as a napkin.

Stiles leads Derek to a long bar counter, with stools in front of it, and hands him the continental menu."Breakfast is on me, let me know what you want, all right?" He turns to the others at the bar. "Guys, this is Derek. Derek, this is Gene, Irene, and Max," he says pointing to each in turn. "They are my favorites. Don't tell."

"Sure."

Gene makes a face. "So, you and Stilinski here-"

Stiles blushes, and wants to hide behind the counter. "Oh don't even-"

Derek however, is a perfect gentleman, which, is awesome if Stiles thinks about it. "We're bondmates. It's sort of new. We're still getting to know one another. I'm sort of hoping to convince him to go with me to Washington Square Park for a lunch on the lawn."

Stiles knows he is grinning like an idiot, but he can't help it. That's- adorable. "I will totally do that! How hard was that? So, food?"

"Uhm, Lucky Charms?"

"Done. Do you want, a serving, an actual bowl, or three quarters of a box with extra not-marshmallows?"

"Uhm. An actual bowl?"

Stiles comes up a minute later with a bowl that is larger than your average cereal bowl, and a box. Milk is poured- skim per request- and coffee delivered. "So, you- eat your Charms. You guys, be nice. I have tables."

He checks on all his tables, and clears away plates, and seats two new tables. When he gets back, Derek has mostly finished his cereal, and looks - no worse for wear.   
"Did you guys play nice?"

Irene smiles at him. "Of course. You have yourself a very nice young man. He hasn't said anything about the weird looks Gene is giving him. He lives with his sister, did you know that?"

Stiles grins. "I had an inkling that he did, yes. You'd love her, she's a sass-master, too."

Derek chuckles, "Actually, she's just a bossy mack-truck. James is the real sass, in the Hale -household. That's her husband. He just can't help himself, and it drives Laura crazy. It's very sweet, and disturbing. I have noise-cancelling headphones. They are precious to me."

Stiles absolutely can't help the smile that breaks across his face, because that sounds hilarious. Werewolves man."Oh my god. I - that's -"

"Yeah. It's great," he says, sarcastic and dry, "Well. I gripe, but I'm happy that Laura has him. She deserves all the good things." He drains the coffee, and grins over at Stiles. "So, when do you get off?"

Stiles leers, "Well. There's a question."

"Of work. Focus."

"I'm sorry. I'm totally still reeling from the shock of actually finding you," he confesses, biting his lip. "And, I do have ADD. Focus is sometimes hard work. Sorry." He wants to feel embarrassed that that came out at work, in front of the Old Dudes, but it's one hundred percent true, and important. Because he is reeling. He hasn't even had time to call Scott, or Lydia, or his Dad. And wow, he needs to call all of them. 

But Derek gives him a genuine smile, before saying, "I read the blog, buddy. I can tell. And, I think we both are a little. I'm going to run some errands, but if you tell me when your shift ends, I'll be here." 

Stiles watches as he stands, and he's surprised by the wave of disappointment that floods him. "I'm done at noon."

"I'll be back here at noon then. Gene, Max, Irene- it was nice to meet you."

He collects his jacket, and leaves, and Stiles has to work hard not sigh like a Disney princess. "Damn," he says, rubbing his chest. He shuffles away to avoid the looks that he's getting, and races to check on all his tables. 

Gene pulls him aside on his way out the door. "Kid, don't fuck this up. That boy barely knows you, and he's already head over heels. I know what it looks like. And, congratulations on your bond. It's a blessing, and you must need each other."

Stiles grins. "Thanks, Gene. I'll see you Thursday," he says, shaking his hand, firmly.

He hadn't thought much about the puzzle piece theories. Frankly, they're anecdotal, and he likes facts, but he's open to finding out if it's true. Plenty of people have said it, that their bondmate fit into their lives, into an empty space, whether they had known it was there or not. 

Before leaving the diner he calls Erica to check on her, she says she's fine, and she's already home. Aww a date, how adorable, and he promises her he'll bring home dinner. Derek is lingering outside, when he gets out, and he's greeted with a half hug, which is nice really, and they make for the village.

They wander the village a bit, before deciding on where to grab snacks from, and heading back to eat them on the lawn. Stiles has a small styrofoam container of yakisoba, and takoyaki, as well as some chocolate chip bread that he'd bought at a little bakery. Derek had grabbed a container of spicy tuna roll, and some water, and they headed back to the park. They're sitting on the lawn, people watching mostly when Stiles says, "It's a little weird being in the park- so full of people."

Derek raises an eyebrow. "Is it weirder than being an otter?"

Stiles sighs. "Dude. I have no idea why my- I don't know spirit animal maybe- is an otter. But, whatever. The weirdest thing about that was that everything was so big. Even you were so big."

"I'm sure. It's - better though, somehow. I mean, the first dream was so- I felt empty for days."

Stiles leans into Derek's side, and he thinks it should be weird because they really barely know each other, but it feels comforting, and warm, and reassuring. "I know. I kept trying to get to you, but I couldn't. It was horrible, and the howling, and I didn't have the lungs to howl back, and I don't think you could have heard me squeaking at you. They were saddest howls I've ever heard."

Derek raises an eyebrow. "Have you heard a lot of wolf howls?"

Stiles can't help the grin on his face, it's a little sly he can fell from the way it feels on his face. "A few. They mostly keep to themselves, you know, but once in a while you can hear them, at home where I grew up. "

"In Northern California."

"Well remembered. Yes," he says, taking a huge bite of his noodles. 

"There aren't any wolves in California."

Stiles grins, setting his chopsticks down. "There's a few. Maybe not officially, but they're totally there."

Derek is giving him a look, like he's sizing him up, or thinking something through, and Stiles lets him. The first day that Derek had come into the cafe and slammed back eight shots, he couldn't help but tell Erica about it, and she'd firmly put herself behind the theory that Derek is a werewolf. They'd made a bet and everything. Stiles had doubted it at the time, because regular humans do stupid things all the time - but he'd seen Derek the Wolf's bright blue eyes, and it'd be impossible to not know what he'd been seeing. "I guess."

Stiles nudges him. "I don't know how to do this. Do we .. date?"

"I think so? I'm typically four on, three off. I don't know what your summer schedule is like."

"Lots of work. My work-study program is all year around."

"We'll find time."

Stiles grins. "We totally will." Except on full moons when they will probably apparently both be pretending they aren't up to shenanigans, either wolfish, or magic. It'll be fine. Because that always works out for him. 

*

Derek enjoys some of the more unusual dates that Stiles takes him on. It'd started out sort of normal, dinners out, a movie, a strange off-off broadway show, they'd even gone out for a run on a Saturday afternoon- and then they'd taken a more unusual bent. Today they are at the Met, searching each gallery for the best ugly painting, other than the truly horrid ones he's already sent. In the end they pose in front of Peinture (Le Chien) by Joan Miro, that is bafflingly ugly and simple, and Stiles snapchats it to his friend Lydia with the caption 'We be chillin' with this minimal creature'.

The reply that comes back is a beautiful redhaired girl, that just looks unamused- one perfectly manicured eyebrow raised, lips pursed with a slight glare and a caption over it that just says, 'We miss you. xo - L&J.'

Stiles chuckles, and puts his phone away. "So sure that Jackson doesn't miss me."

"That's her boyfriend right?" Derek asks, as they leave the Met, and head out into Central Park. Stiles has a large friends group, and he's still trying to remember everything. They're going to wander the zoo,' because why not, is why.' And Derek is - nervous, hoping that the animals don't respond to him. He hasn't bothered visiting to zoo since he was a kid, and he can't remember if that was a problem or not, honestly.

"Yeah. They're actually bondmates. I mean. I get why he's not my best friend. I was totally in love with Lydia from like, fifth grade until - well. Their bond settled when they were fifteen. So, I'm sure before that I was - maybe potential competition, even if they were actually together. We're friends now though. Sophomore year in high school changed everything. We'd all been - stupid. What the hell did we know about anything, until everything was turned upside down. When everything shook out, it was me and Scott, and Jackson, and Lydia standing in a boat, lost at sea. Not literally, but figuratively."

It's a strange way to talk about - well- anything, but Derek figures that if Stiles really wants to tell him what happened, he will. And he probably will in time, so he lets the vagaries slide past him, and asks instead, "What about Erica?" curious, since she seems to be such an important figure in his life, and that's not new as far as he can tell.

"Right. Erica. A lot of people at school ignored her, and when they weren't ignoring her, they were being mean to her. Some asshat actually filmed her having a seizure and put it on YouTube. It was- horrible. So, she- I don't know, a weaker person might have like fallen apart, maybe. I don't know why , I never asked, but she was out of school for a week, and she came back, and she was - totally different. No more frizz. No more frump girl sweaters. No more sneakers. It was lots of leather, and sort of vamp, and all boobs all the time. I was giving her shit about it one day, in the way that boys pulling pigtails do when there aren't any pigtails, and she leans in, and gives me this grin like she's going to eat   
me alive, and leans in and says, 'I used to have the biggest crush on you.' and I don't know where it came from, but I said, 'Yeah? You wanna play Catwoman, I'll be your Batman.' and she's still giving me that predatory sort of look and it looks like she's going to kiss me, and she's grabbed onto my shirt, and she slams me back against the wall, and leaves, giving me a wink as she walks away, in the tightest leather skirt that ever graced the halls of my shitty highschool."

"That's- intense."

"No kidding, right? I don't think I'd ever been that turned on my life. Anyway, we're in gym class two weeks later, and we're doing the climbing wall. I'm up there with her, and she starts to seize. My friend Scott caught her, actually. She's laid out on the mat, and I finally make it down. And she grins at me, and says, sort of slurred, 'You know, you'd make a pretty good Batman.' We dated for - for the rest of high school, but really we made each other nuts, in great ways, but also in unhealthy ways. We broke up before we both said yes to NYU, but we were great as friends, and we went for it. And, we're still friends. So, the answer to your question is, she joined the group later. Kira did later too, that's Scott's wife."

"The badass kendo girl."

"Yes."

"Quite a group."

"You don't know the half of it," is the reply, and Derek isn't sure how to process it. There's definitely something unusual about the group, and Derek hasn't entirely been able to put his finger on what it is. It's great that high school friends are all keeping in touch despite a somewhat extensive diaspora -- Scott and Kira in California, Lydia and Jackson in Boston, and Erica and Stiles in New York, a Danny and an Ethan have also been mentioned, but mostly in passing in various stories. 

The bond is fantastic, and the way the resonance becomes a pleasant buzz with exposure, is remarkable, but it doesn't tell you everything. It actually makes him more confused, because Stiles had been nervous about telling him that story, and Derek isn't quite sure why he should be. It's not like he would expect Stiles to not have history. He knows he does- Stiles had made a point of making Selina a feature in his blog, surely to make it clear that she's an important part of his life. And that's okay. He likes her, even if she likes to send him texts at weird hours. 

Derek insists on paying the entrance fee to the park, he tells Stiles he can buy snacks later, and Stiles agrees. Derek hasn't figured out at what point it's a good idea to mention that he feels bad letting Stiles pay for anything, when he's clearly hurting for money when Derek himself has so much, but he's afraid it will either come out as a boast, or worse, condescending. They wander, and Stiles spends a while chatting to the mouse-deer like it's totally normal, and he lets him. 

They snack at a food truck when they're done at the zoo, laughing over the animals, and Stiles is looking tired. He'd had work study that morning, and had come out anyway, since Derek is scheduled to work five days straight this week, and face time would be scarce. They're sitting on the R train, two stops into the trip, when Stiles turns and looks at him. "So, can I ask you a question, since you can't run away?"

He's pretty sure he knows what's coming because he's been catching little whiffs of arousal, and long slow pulls of desire, off his bondmate all day, which is actually pretty heady. Their physical interaction has mostly been limited to a variety of hugs to date- some casual, and lately more full body and lingering. Derek's been taking his cues from Stiles, and letting him make the moves. But, the question could be anything really, with Stiles, from the expected topic to his stance on Spiderman being part of the Avengers. "Sure. "

"What's the over-under on me getting a good night kiss tonight?" is the question, and Stiles asks it, staring at his reflection in the window of the rickety subway car, like he's afraid that Derek won't say yes. 

Derek grasps his chin, and tugs gently, until Stiles is forced to meet his gaze. "All you have to do is ask."

Stiles smiles wide, clearly pleased, and he darts forward to steal a quick kiss, before settling back in his seat, grinning, and the bond is flooded with satisfaction, and anticipation.  
They get off the train at 8th St, and Derek walks Stiles to his apartment. "This one is me. I don't suppose you'd come in?" he asks, standing in front of the building, holding the main door open.

Derek shrugs, and follows him in. The apartment is - it's a glorified matchbox is what it is, but he knows that most apartments in the city basically are. It smells of Stiles, Erica and the cat. He takes in the living room, only half watching Stiles toe off his beat up old converse sneakers, and he follows suit, leaning down to untie the laces of his boots. It's tiny, with a small leather couch, and a bookshelf that's packed to bursting, and surrounded by little piles of books, with a small beat up coffee table, covered in papers, and a woman's sweater. The kitchen is a small refrigerator with a sink, a hotplate, a microwave and little else, and looks mostly unused. Stiles explains they mostly eat at work, or get takeout. Derek is surprised when Stiles drags him down the hallway, into a .. closet. It's a closet with a bed in it, and he's being shoved into it. 

"Uhm. "

"Is this okay? Please can we just snuggle, and then I'll give you a good night kiss, and you can go?"

Derek nods. "Sure, but can I take my coat off?" As if he could deny his bondmate anything, honestly. He hasn't really embraced his sexuality, he knows, since it was used against him, but he's talked about it enough with Dr Morell, that he isn't worried. He's been with people after Kate, though not anyone that he had feelings for other than lust, and shared desire to get off, though not many. And if it is just snuggles, that's completely fine too. 

Stiles chuckles, Derek isn't sure what's so funny (as ever), and lays his jacket over the end of the bed, before climbing in, and wrapping Stiles up in his arms. Stiles lets out a contented sigh, before saying, "Thanks."

Derek wakes up, sometime later, to a girl, grinning at him from behind a camera phone. "Smile, Derek!"

Derek just grumbles, and buries his face in Stiles' neck, inhaling the scent of him. Stiles is still asleep, but Derek can tell that he's starting to wake. "Stiles, we fell asleep."

"Mmhmm, you're so warm," and he's rubbing his face into his pillow for a moment before, lifting his head, and turning to look at Derek, grinning. "Wow, if that bedhead is just from sleeping I can't wait to see what I can really do to it," and he slides a hand into Derek's hair, pulling him close for a kiss, that starts innocently, just a taste, before it escalates into hands seeking skin under shirts, and hot wet open mouthed kisses, and Derek is about to peel Stiles out of his shirt entirely when he hears a groan in the kitchen and then, "At least close the fucking door, Stiles."

Stiles reaches out and swings the door shut, and pulls Derek into another kiss, dragging his body over his bondmates, and resting the back of his elbows on Derek's shoulders, pressing their hips together, grinding slightly. "You're so unbelievably gorgeous. How can you be mine?"

Derek doesn't even answer that, though it feels good that his mate finds him attractive, before he rolls them over, and is pinning him under his body, even if they're getting dangerously close to the edge of the bed. His mate is warm, and hard bodied under him, and god he feels amazing pressed against him. "I don't know. Fuck knows there's no way I deserve you."

"Things just happen, what the hell," is Stiles answer, before he starts tugging at Derek's shirt, Derek shifts, and pulls his shirt over his head, before shifting to let Stiles up so he can do the same. Derek comes to a stop when he sees the tattoo that runs up the right side of his torso. "You like it?"

Derek stares at the series of circles and shadows that make up the lunar cycle, running from full to new to full again. It's beautifully inked, precise circles in a perfect line, with additional lines over the new moon that he doesn't recognize. "Yes," he says, pushing him down into the sheets, and licking a wet stripe over it. "Yes," he groans, tasting his mate- like sweat, and boy, and that scent that's just his, pressing kisses into his neck, between tiny bites at the column of his neck, and the meat of his shoulder. "Is this a good idea?"

"I don't know, but I don't care. Do you care? We waited. We waited so long. I don't want to wait anymore, Derek."

Derek grins, remembering a post about feeling too guilty to find a hookup. "That really is a long time to wait."

Stiles nods, "It is. And you can totally say no- but I want you. So bad."

"And, what is it that you want? My mouth? My dick?" Derek asks, pulling open the button fly on Stiles' jeans, and pulling them open.

Stiles groans. "Any of it. All of it. Just you, please."

Derek hooks his fingers under the waistband of Stiles' boxers, and tugs them down with the denim. "So greedy." He doesn't want to be the guy that stares, but Stiles has a pretty cock, flush dark, and hard. It's thick without being too much, and Derek can feel his mouth actually watering, at the scent of Stiles' arousal.

"God, yes," Stiles whimpers, when Derek pumps his cock once, twice, and moans loudly, when Derek leans forward for an experimental lick across the head. Derek, feeling bold, and reckless, and careless, throws any caution into the wind, and licks over the head again, before taking it into his mouth. 

It doesn't take long to push Stiles over the edge, and he muffles his own shout, moaning against the skin of his arm, when he comes. When he's done, he lets his arm drop, and he's panting slightly, and staring at Derek. "Dude. That was awesome."

Derek shifts in the bed, and wraps Stiles up in his arms. "Good," he nuzzles at the back of Stiles' neck, and licks, and kisses, and Stiles just lets him. It's - amazing. Why he would, Derek doesn't know, but he doesn't say a word either when Derek lets his teeth close over the muscle of his shoulder, and bite down, enough to leave a light mark, but nothing serious. He'd love to kiss and lick his mate all over, mark him in bites, and rub his scent all over his skin, but he can control himself. He can control the wolf. 

He sighs, he doesn't want to get up now and leave, and he's going to have to linger in the stairwell for a few and wait out his erection but he's spotted the clock and its past nine at night, and not only is Laura going to be slightly worried probably that he hasn't come home yet, he has work at five am. "I need to go soon."

Stiles nods. "I figured, but I was enjoying being nibbled on. You can do that whenever you feel like it. It's nice. You sure you don't want me to -"

"Not tonight. And, I'm sure I will, and often," he presses a kiss into Stiles' hair. "Can I get a goodnight kiss?"

Stiles chuckles, and turns in his arms, and Derek is sort of thrilled by how Stiles doesn't care a single bit that he's stark naked, and a little messy, and he's pressed himself against Derek, and kisses him slow, and soft, and a little chaste- which is probably a good idea if they don't want to start all over again. "How was that?" Stiles asks, pulling a blanket over himself, once Derek has left their cocoon of blankets, and is no longer keeping him warm. 

"Perfect," is the only answer Derek can give. "I'll text you."

"You better," Stiles answers, pointing a finger threateningly. "Do you want me to walk you out?"

"I'm sure I can find the door. It's not that far away," he answers, as he ties up his boots. 

Stiles nods. "Just as well. I feel like staying in bed naked all night, thinking about you."

Derek groans, and makes a faux-annoyed face. "Goodnight, Stiles."

"Night Derek. Thank you for snuggles and orgasms."

Derek snerks, as he shuts the bedroom door. Erica is of course, standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. "Uhm."

"You hurt him, I'll break your pretty face," she says, smiling. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he says, and leaves, feeling absurdly happy with himself, the scent of Stiles all over of him and the taste of him lingering on his tongue. 

Laura just glares at him when he walks in. "And what sort of time is this to come back from a lunch date? I made dinner."

"Sorry."

She nods. "I'd be mad except I can smell you, and I can't be, but for the love of Poptarts, go take a shower."

Derek smirks at her. "No, I don't think I will. I think this will be some well deserved olfactory revenge. Goodnight, sister-dear."

He heads up the stairs, and he sees James chuckling, and he gets a casual fist bump and a 'Well played," on his way through the living room, before heading upstairs. 

Not long after he's laying in bed, cock in hand, and he's blushing as he takes a quick pic, and then seven more because they don't come out right, before sending it with a message that says 'next time'.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lydia comes for a visit (interrogation) and Stiles sees the big picture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos guys, you're all awesome. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy. Let me know!

Chapter Nine

The feeling that Derek has missed something continues when Lydia From Boston shows up one weekend. She sweeps into town, and she absolutely stinks of wolf, but she isn't one. She is pleasant, and bossy, and Derek never wants her and Laura to meet. She asks him a thousand questions, some of which he straight up refuses to answer, which frustrates her, and amuses Stiles, until she kicks him out and demands he leave and get them all pizza. Derek insists on paying, handing him a pair of twenties from his wallet.

"So," she says, head tilted in that way he thinks means she's already figured something out herself, but is asking you to see what you think, "what hole do you think you fill in Stiles' life? And don't be crude."

Derek would never. Truthfully, he might say something like that to Laura, just to gross her out and probably never if James was around, but certainly not to someone he barely knows. "I'm not sure. Maybe it's not something that's apparent yet. He's still in school."

She nods. "Agreed." 

"Stiles says you're going to school at MIT for applied mathematics?"

"I am the one asking questions, aren't I? But yes I did. You know they say some people can tell they have a bondmate before the empathic bond really kicks in."

"I had heard that, yes."

"I had that. For years, even before I woke, and Stiles used to follow me around like a little love-sick puppy. But, he saw me when no one else did. I assumed he was so perceptive because he was catching glimpses through the bond. I thought - I thought it would be him."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I love Jackson. We fill each other's empty spaces, exactly the way we are supposed to. But Stiles is special. He sees things you don't necessarily want other people to see, like they're obvious, even when they aren't obvious to anyone else. And he loves with his entire self. There's no halfway, there's no partial credit. It's not all the same, obviously, the bond he and I have, isn't even the same as Stiles and Erica, or you and Stiles, and bonds he'll forge later, but - it makes it easy for him to get hurt. So be careful with our Stiles."

The our does not get passed him, nor does her insinuation that she was maybe something other than the human she seemed to be, but he knows better than to ask at this point. Lydia continues, like nothing momentous had been said, "Do you have any intentions of returning to your hometown?" 

Derek stares. "How-"

"I am very thorough. Do you?"

"I - don't think so. Laura and James might. She wants to raise kids there, not in Brooklyn. I'm not sure I can go back."

"Because you are Derek Hale- from Beacon Hills, California, aren't you? Your family owned that huge house on the edge of preserve."

"We still own the property, we just had it torn down, eventually. Yes I am that Derek Hale."

She looks angry all at once then, and Derek isn't sure why. "Have I done something wrong?"

She sighs. "No. You haven't," she pauses. "Stiles is really smart, he probably doesn't make a big thing out of it, but I bet if you asked, he'd tell you he has a 4.0, despite doing a double-major, and the apprenticeship at the same time. But sometimes, it takes him a little bit to see the big obvious thing in front of him because he spends so much time looking at the details. And sometimes, he plays his cards close to his chest, and it's hard to tell what he knows. His dad taught him that, it's very frustrating to deal with. But, between you and me, you might want to consider bringing it up sooner rather than later."

Derek stares at her, trying to decide if that was a threat, and what she's so angry about. "Is this personal, or just because I am what I am?"

"Please, you know it's both," she says standing up. "Consider what I said."

They have pizza, and Stiles asks Derek to stay after Lydia leaves to get lost in the shops on Fifth Avenue. He does and Stiles just sighs, and drags him onto the couch. "I'm sorry if she was rude to you," he says burying his socked feet under Derek's thigh, and wiggling his toes.

"I'm not sure rude is the word. I'm not sure what is though."

Stiles shrugs. "Why do you go out of your way to pay for everything? I know a nurse's salary isn't that great, most of the time."

Derek decides to roll with it, because if it's the day to ask every question he's had, well, Derek will deal with it. "Because, I know you're working at the diner, and maybe on scholarship, but rent is high, and - it's a small thing to do, to pick up the tab, or buy some tickets. And, I do have a nurse's salary, but I also have extensive personal accounts that were my trust fund, as well as living rent free. We bought the house straight out, the only thing we pay is taxes and utilities, and Laura and I split them. I have the money, and you could do with spending less, and having more. And I didn't want to make anything of it, because I didn't want it to be a boast, or hurt your pride, so I just - tried to pay for the bigger things."

Stiles nods. "I appreciate it. It's fine the way it is, we'll just keep doing it. Thanks for telling me."

Derek hmms, and tugs his bondmate into his arms. "Can the interrogation be over now?"

Stiles grins, and winds his arms around Derek's neck. "Absolutely."

"Thank goodness. Dodgers game?" 

Stiles nods, digging around for the tv remote under the open books on the table. "Dodgers game," he agrees, grinning when the monster sized ginger cat waddles around the corner, and climbs up on the couch, settling on Derek's lap, like the fact that he's a wolf doesn't even matter to her. 

"If I bought tickets for a game, would you be mad?" he asks, in the middle of the third inning. 

"Will you let me get at least half of the beer at the game?"

"Sure."

"Are you going to give me shit for being a Mets fan?"

"Maybe a little. I'll try not to."

"Then no, I don't mind. Less talk, more baseball. You get a kiss for every homerun your Dodgers score."

"What do I get if we win?"

Stiles leans against his bondmate's side, and Derek let's him get comfortable, enjoying the quiet buzzing under his skin, from the Resonance, and the content murmur of Stiles through the bond. He's a wonder, and Derek knows it's too late, too late to fuck up, because if he does- he'll end up breaking his own heart, because this lanky boy that's pressed up against his side, is the light of his life, and he loves him. He's not sure if it's okay to say it yet, so he hasn't, but it's so - freeing. 

He can trust his bondmate, he can feel that truth of that, and it's like starting over. 

The game is scoreless in the fifth, and it's not until the Mariner's manage to knock one out of Dodger Stadium before he starts wondering when the other shoe is going to drop,  
and what Lydia was really trying to get him to understand, because he's fairly certain didn't really get what she was driving at.

It's a very worrisome thought.

* * *

"I guess, I'll just have to wait and see," is all that he can think to say when Lydia asked him if Derek had brought anything up after she left the night before. "I mean, maybe he thinks I'll be afraid of him. Maybe Laura told him not to. I mean, they're pretty close, maybe she's worried about me. You never know what people are thinking. They have reasons, even when you don't know what they are."

Lydia sighs. "I know that Stiles. That's obvious to anyone with a shred of common sense and two brain cells to rub together. I just wanted to know."

"Nothing. Maybe, you were too subtle."

She raises an eyebrow. "Stiles, I told him that you got me when nobody else did, and then I told him that you sometimes know things, and don't tell anybody, and you're smart enough to figure things out. If that doesn't add up to: 'Tell your soulmate you're a werewolf, idiot' then I don't know what else to say," she says, using air-quotes and everything. 

"Maybe he needed to think it over."

"Maybe," she concedes. She sits next to him, and wraps an arm around his shoulder, and presses her face into his collarbone. "It'll be all right."

"Logically, I know it will. It just feels like he's lying to me. I mean, not telling me is - leaving out something- huge. Something absolutely fundamental to who he is. And- we're soulmates, bonded soulmates, and he hasn't told me. I'm trying to not feel a little hurt about it."

"He'll tell you. He has to tell you eventually."

"He saw my tattoo. Like, hello, I have a fucking lunar cycle calendar on my chest. I have the symbol for druid - like - on my chest. He had to notice. He licked it for Christ's sake."

"Maybe he was just super turned on, and didn't notice?"

"I doubt it, somehow."

Lydia stops and stares at him. "I'm sorry, what? Why?"

"It's not like I'm - he's just so - hot. And I'm so - meh."

Lydia throws her hands in the air in frustration. "We have been over this, how many times? You're hot, Stiles. I know Erica still thinks you're hot, even if you're horrible at being together. So, shut up! And honestly, I think he knows what I was telling him. Give him a week. He knows there's something going on. He had to know I smelled like wolf, because Jackson and I-"

"Lydia! No! No! We don't talk about what you and Jackson do! God."

She chuckles. "Right. Okay, Stiles." They sit there, for a few minutes, Tas wanders by, and collects her pets, and moves on to the patch of sunlight on the kitchen counter, and flops, and they watch her with silent attention, before Lydia sighs, "I can't wait to go home. I mean, I like Boston, but - it's so big. And there's death- just - it's awful. I miss home. I miss Kira, and Danny, and everyone."

"You're done with your masters. What are you waiting for? Jackson?"

"I'm doing a second masters. I got bored with math. I mean, I love math. I love everything about it, but it isn't - difficult. I wanted a challenge."

"Okay. What program are you doing then?" Stiles asks, curious as to what she might find challenging. 

"Criminology? But with a focus in profiling. I know you're - trying to finish up your undergrad while doing your emissary training- even if the classics degree is part of that- and I'm not trying to like, take your place in the plan-"

Stiles takes a minute to take it in, before turning on the bed, and grabbing her arms. "Seriously?"

"Yes?" 

She looks worried, and so Stiles charges on. "That is awesome! Lyds, we are going to be unstoppable. That's awesome. Are you liking it?"

"It's definitely interesting. Jackson is baffled, but- he's supportive, in the way that he is, where he just shrugs and lets me do whatever I want."

"How's he doing? Scott says he doesn't call that much."

"He doesn't like being dependent, even if he likes being part of the pack. He's always been closer to Danny, and he comes up and visits a lot, and they have manly snuggle sessions."

"Well, as long as they're manly, I guess."

Lydia sighs, "Come on, if I'm in Manhattan, I'm going for really good sushi, and then maybe more shopping. You're coming."

"Oh boy. Yay. That will be so much fun."

"Daddy will buy you some jeans to make your other half drool," Lydia promises, grinning. 

He balks, but he loves it, because it makes her happy to spend her father's money in revenge, and hey if it might tempt Derek into wanting a piece, well who is he to complain? Plus spicy tuna roll. "I'm in," Stiles says, grinning. 

"Call Erica. I know she's at the dojo, but make her meet us later. She needs some retail therapy too."

Stiles whimpers. "Yup, okay."

* * *

Stiles loves his "work-study" program, because while he is getting credit for it as part of his classics BS, it is- magic training. He's been learning magic, lore, herbalism, and the practices and jobs of an emissary for three years. He's learned a lot about what his place will be, even if he, like all emissaries, have a normal job. He has a standing invitation with the police academy back home, and he'll be their supernatural eyes in the police force, for their territory.

He'll keep the pack lore, maintain their beastiary, the well-being of the pack will rest on him in cases of magical incursion, or poisoning. He hasn't recorded much in the notebook that he will someday rebind, or copy, as the first historical record of the McCall pack, when they are no longer being sheltered. 

May had told him in one of their first lessons that Satomi was doing them what is considered a very big favor in were circles. To shelter an alpha that isn't your own family is apparently extremely generous, as well as helping to find and train an emissary. But Satomi was - firm, and most definitely about discipline, control, and was just a bit dour, but she was generous to her fellow supernatural beings and their human pack members. 

He's made sure Scott knows what a big deal it actually is, especially since he has a mate, and is really biding her time until Stiles is ready to stand next to his pack, as their advisor. 

Her emissary is named Toshiro, and is a enigmatic Japanese man, that likes to tease Stiles by calling him a tanuki- which he apparently isn't. He is apparently a playful otter. 

This morning they are in the greenhouse that she keeps on her roof. It's very warm in the mid-summer sun, fairly humid, and full of plants for harvest- there's wolfbane and mistletoe, but also sage, clover, mandrake, valerian, rue, and okay whatever there might be some cannabis in the corner, but Stiles doesn't mind, and pretends not to notice out of respect for his teacher. "So, can I ask you a question about pack families?"

"Sure," she says, dead-heading a pot of marigolds that are there entirely for looks. 

"Do you know much about the packs that live in the city?"

"Some of them. Most of the wolves in the five boroughs stay under the radar, claim no territory, and go as quietly as they come. The oldest families claim some territory, but don't enforce it. It's - tradition for them, more than anything. Most wolves don't tend to make their homes here for that reason. I'm sure you're aware they like to run, especially on the full moon. Generally, if you find a were the city, they're transient. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if you knew anything about the Hales. They live out in Brooklyn."

May looks up sharply. "The real question is what do you know about them?"

Stiles frowns. "I know they live in Brooklyn? I know there's two of them, probably three. Derek, Laura and James. I guess he took her name?"

"James Phelan did take his wife's name when he joined her pack. It's fairly traditional, it sometimes saves the pack lineage. Which, you know, Stiles. I know you have some very strong feelings about taking the McCall name for your pack."

Stiles does. He's adamant that Rafe McCall not have the honor of being the namesake of a line of wolves, and that Scott should consider taking back his own mother's name, even though she's now a Stilinski herself. "So, James Phelan takes Laura Hale's name to save the pack name. Where's the rest of their pack? Is it really just the three of them?"

May nods. "I'm surprised you don't know, if you know them at all. Hunters killed almost the entire clan, including the pack humans. The hunter in question, surrounded the house  
in mountain ash, and burnt the house down. Only three members survived, and one was so badly burned he spent years healing, and was sadly insane when he healed. Laura killed him to stop him. But, you know this part."

Stiles looks up. "No, I don't. I don't know that."

"Stiles, this is your history. This is your territory. What do you mean, you don't know?"

Stiles goes still. "It's my history-- because of Derek, or something else?" he has a shiver of cold dread pouring down his spine, because she hasn't said, but he knows, in a instant of fog lifting who bit Scott, Lydia, and Jackson. 

"Stiles, the Hale House was in Beacon Hills. It's their territory. They reclaim it once a year. Peter Hale was killed by his niece, when he went - well- feral. Laura was kind enough to let him kill the bitch that murdered their family first, of course-"

And Stiles' mind supplies all the details - Allison moving into town, just after the animal attacks start, followed by her aunt, and then leave like their asses were on fire the second Kate had been put in the ground. Peter Hale being found with her body in the Preserve, both of them with evidence of being shredded by a mountain lion, or a some other animal.  
Peter had killed Kate, and Laura had killed Peter to keep him from hurting people. 

That's why no alpha ever claimed their bitten wolves. Satomi had truly been kinder than he knew- taking in the progeny of her neighboring wolf pack. It's possible Laura didn't even know that Peter had bitten anyone that survived, since it had in Scott's case gone unreported, and Lydia and Jackson had taken so long to heal- Lydia because her banshee nature made her immune to the transformation, and Jackson because his body had fought and fought the change until Satomi had stabilized him. 

Stiles' mind ground to halt, suddenly. His mate had lost his entire family, except Laura. And his mind appends the new information to old information he'd gotten from Laura -- he'd known that. Laura had told him in the first email she'd sent him- about the anniversary. "Fuck."

Why had Satomi never told them? Was she protecting herself, or them - or Laura and Derek? It's possible they know each other. 

Stiles looks up at May who is content to let him think it though, continuing from her marigolds to watering the potted cylamen.

"But of course, no one among the emissaries even raised an eyebrow at that. Talia Hale was - formidable. Her word was wise, often kind, and once issued, was law. She was very respected- her family has an ability that not many wolf lines has- she can walk as a true wolf, a true alpha-shift. Many families, and larger packs have been waiting to see how long it would take them to lick their wounds and return to their territory. I figure things will start changing soon," she says, giving him a look.

She knows he has a bond, she'd sensed it the moment he'd walked in after it settled- even before he had. But neither of them had known to whom he was bonded, and Stiles hadn't shared his suspicions about his bondmate because they hadn't seemed pertinent at the time, since it hadn't changed his magic. Except now it was incredibly pertinent. 

"Derek Hale is my soulmate."

She sighs. "I assumed that was why you asked. Youngling, you have a problem, then. But, I believe that perhaps it is a problem that you are meant to be the solution to. Our training together is done. You are the druid that I taught you to be, and now you will learn new lore, and lineages. The magic of the Hale pack, will not be the same as the magic of the Ito pack, or the McCall pack. "

Stiles frowns. "What? Why does that matter? I mean, I'm Scott's-"

"Laura Hale has no emissary. Her mother's emissary watches over them, but from a great distance. Derek Hale will never leave his sister's pack, and you are his bonded mate, even if you aren't sealed to each other." Sealed is the magic word for the formal contract of being mates: ie married, and Stiles has always thought it was sort of pretentious, but it's not particularly surprising, a lot of magic is needlessly showy, both the way they talk about it, and they its often practiced. 

And it makes perfect sense, of course it does, but it pains him to have to let go of the idea of being at Scott's side for his entire life, keeping him out of trouble, safe, and helping him with the big decisions. He still really wants that. "But-"

"Magic herself has decided this, when you were bound. I suspect that you may be disappointed now, but you won't be in the long term. I am proud to have been your teacher. To have sealed you to magic, and as a druid."

He smiles, knowing he's being dismissed. "Thank you. It was my pleasure to learn. I still have class-"

"Of course you do, nitwit, and your final thesis better blow my mind. Be well, Szczpan Stilinski."

He shakes her outstretched hand, "Be well, May Espinosa. And thank you. For everything."

He leaves the greenhouse, and her townhouse, and walks, and thinks, and walks. Finally at nearly midnight he texts Lydia, sitting on the side of the fountain in Washington Square Park.

To Lydia [23:32]: I found the way we fit-- the way I fit seamlessly into his life. And, maybe it'll be amazing, and awesome, and life-affirming someday, but today I am fucking pissed at the universe.

To Stiles [23:45]: I thought I was going to marry you. I thought your bizarre devotion to me was a immature bond between us. Sometimes, life isn't what you expect. It's messy, and strange, and beautiful. Because, I know you hate hearing about me and Jackson- but we really do make each other happy. It's like - sandpaper- or a whetstone- lots of friction- but in the end you get the smooth surface, or sharp edge you're looking for. I know that might not make sense to you.

To Lydia [00:18]: It doesn't, but I understand at the same time. I am glad you're happy together. And I do respect that you're together, as much as I might play otherwise. I love you, and I don't even hate Jackson the way I used to. 

To Stiles: [00:20]: I love you too. Jackson says go to bed, he wants to take me to bed, if you know what I mean.

To Lydia [00:21]: Gross. Night, babes. xx

He gives up on sleep at nearly four AM and makes a mental list of the crap swirling through his mind.

\- Who is the Hale Emissary?

\- Confirmation that they are totally werewolves- or at least were-somethings- he supposes it's possible that James could be something else. VINDICATION.

\- Laura might be willing, eventually, to give Erica the bite. Satomi had refused since that would tie her to the Ito Pack, and not the McCall pack. 

\- He now has a lot of free time. Which is great for finding extra Derek time, or work time, or time to make Erica banana chips that aren't shitty chalky tasteless things from the grocery store. 

\- He's going to have to tell Derek he knows, in order to get him to open up enough to have the discussion about emissaries.

\- He has to tell Scott. 

\- He has no idea how to tell Scott.

\- He hardcore needs time with his dad. 

In the end, its five in the morning, when he finally gives up, and crawls into Erica's bed with her, and Tas, and passes out. 

He wakes just after nine to Erica seizing.

* * *

Derek notices the resonance the second he enters the hospital. He clocks in, and goes through the charts he'll be in charge of, with the night nurse, and then checks the computer. It's not Stiles- it's Erica. He shoots off a quick text, asking if she's okay, and then starts his rounds.

It's a lull, and he's entering chart updates into the computer, and thinking about breakfast when he feels the resonance change that usually indicates a change in proximity. Marie is walking in with Stiles, and Derek opens his arms, and Stiles walks right into them, butting his head against his chest. "She's taking her medication. She's on the special diet. It's  
just- I - my mom died of - basically brain atrophy. The fact that her brain is literally hurting her- just- makes everything hurt. It feels personal, and it hurts."

Derek wraps him up in a hug, and kisses the top of his head, and Stiles sighs. "Thanks."

"Come on," he says and he plunks Stiles down in a chair for waiting family members. "Sit there, where I can keep an eye on you for a few minutes, and then I'll take you back upstairs."

Marie is grinning at him. "You guys are so cute."

"Shut up," Derek says, grinning. 

Carly walks over and leans against the desk. "He doesn't have the right color pass. What's he doing here?"

Marie smiles, a broad shit-eating grin. "Derek's bondmate is here with his friend. She was admitted in neurology, and I ran into him in the cafe. I thought, he might want a minute to see Derek, before he heads back up. That's cool with you, right?"

Carly looks up. "Bondmate?"

Derek decides that this is a great opportunity to make it perfectly clear, nicely, that Carly has a less than zero percent chance at a date. "Yeah. This is Stiles. Stiles, this is Carly. She's one of our great recovery nurses."

Stiles smiles, or tries. Derek can tell he's trying really hard to be friendly, but he's scared, and worried, and nervous. "Hi."

Carly smiles. "I'm sure your friend will be fine."

He nods. "I know. She usually is, but you have to admit it's a bad way to wake up, to your best friend seizing in your arms. Even Tas was upset."

Derek is watching Carly, and he can tell the moment she falls into the trap of Stiles' occasional charm. "Rough night, huh? Crashing in with Erica?"

Stiles nods. "It was a rough day. I- well, we can talk about it later, but I was dismissed from work study. Which - yay free time- but also has sort of turned my world upside down. And, frankly, I was up all night, until five."

Derek nods. He'd noticed when Stiles hadn't gone to bed, and he'd definitely been aware that his bondmate was upset yesterday, but he'd decided to let Stiles reach out to him when he was ready. He wasn't sure why, but it had felt like the right thing to do. He pulls Stiles against him. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It was- an amicable dismissal, it wasn't like I got fired- she just can't teach me anymore. I talked to Lydia for a while- she sort of calmed me down enough to function at least. Yay. But, we'll talk about it later. I should get back upstairs, before my Catwoman wakes up alone," Stiles moves quickly, pressing a quick kiss to Derek's lips. "Love you."

Derek grins. "I know. Go."

Stiles is asleep, Derek notes three hours later, as he makes his way upstairs on his break. He finds Stiles has crawled into the wide hospital bed with her, careful not to upset any of her monitors, and is resting his head against her shoulder. Derek checks her charts- vitals are good, recommendation to let her sleep of the exhaustion, and schedule a follow up to review her meds with her standard neurologist. Derek doesn't want to wake Stiles, if he's that tired, he must need the rest. He leaves the room, and comes back a few minutes later with a packet of Reese's, and a note scribbled on a prescription pad.

_Hey, you looked tired, so I let you sleep. She's going to be fine. If I don't see you before you leave, tell Erica I said hello. I'll text you later. x- DH_

Derek finishes out his shift, it's exhausting, they get a influx of four post-op patients from a collision, and spend forty minutes dealing with frantic relatives - reassuring them, while keeping an eye on them, as well. But when he clocks out, all four are awake, and responding well, and have been moved off recovery, and into a care unit along with their relatives. 

Stiles does drop by super quickly before he leaves, sneaking a kiss, before ducking out. Derek barters with Marie for five minutes, and Derek sneaks down, and pays for a taxi for them. Stiles doesn't say anything but he gets a text from Erica the next day that just says:

To Derek [11:37]: Thanks for the ride yesterday. You didn't have to, but I appreciate it. You're a good bestfriend's boyfriend. And not just because of that, but Stiles said you came up to check on me, and the unit nurses were not subtle about trying to get information about how I knew the hot nurse. Stiles might have outed you slightly, by very loudly saying, 'whoa, ladies, sorry to break it to you but that boy is Mine.' Thought you might like to know. 

To Erica [13:52]: Wow. That's awesome. I wondered why I'd gotten a few looks today. It's cool. I love being his. How are you feeling?

To Derek [13:53]: Aww! I'm exhausted, but okay. Typical.  
To Derek [13:53] What the hell happened on Wednesday? Stiles is a fucking wreck. Are you fighting? Were those apology peanut butter cups?

To Erica [13:55]: They weren't. I don't think - well he said he was dismissed from his work-study program. I'm not sure why, he didn't say. But I think it upset him. 

To Derek [13:59]: OMG are you serious? That's super important to him. More than his place at the police academy - and he's wanted to be a cop forever. Holy shit snacks, Wolverine. 

To Erica [14:02]: I am not Wolverine. And, - he didn't want to talk to me about it. He said he talked to Lydia about it? I don't know how to help. Talk later, break's up.

To Derek [14:03]: You are. Accept this, Logan. I'll check in with Lyds. oxox 

To Derek [18:36]: Holy shit. Well, I'll tell you what, that's a doozy. You'll find out when he's ready, I guess. And, tbh he's upset - but he's not devastated. It's just - who likes it when life fucks up your best laid plans? It'll be fine.

* * *

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


September 17, 2017

Hey guys! It's been a while, huh? I've replied to a bunch of people that emailed the blog account for updates, but I thought I'd do a proper post. 

It's never easy, is it, when things change? Coming together has changed a lot of things for the both of us. It's stressed us out in our own ways. 

I didn't really give much attention to the puzzle piece theory when I was doing my initial research binge, because it wasn't immediately important, and so I set it aside for later. As soon as my friends, and teachers, and the Old Dudes, started to realize what had happened, I started getting questions, or comments on how we must need each other, about how we'll find the way we fit together like a puzzle. And, in some ways it was a little simple probably, my bondmate is wonderful, but he's not a gregarious sort of person, and I think we can all agree that I am pretty upbeat and extroverted. 

It's not easy, but it's so worth it. It's going to be worth it. Because it wasn't as simple as that. I figured it out today. And it changes everything that I had planned for the future, but I can see what the new future might look like, and it's fantastic. It's a life that I couldn't have dreamed of, before college. 

And I'm struggling despite it. I'm angry that thing are going to change. 

But I can get over it. Because it's a short term pain, and because my bondmate is amazing, and because I believe that we'll be amazing together. 

So, we're - in an adjustment period, but it's an adjustment period full of snuggles, naked and otherwise. So. :DD

#soulmates #imay #puzzlepieces #exhausted #sorrysoserious


	11. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Laura attempts to scheme, and everything becomes clearer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I was so sick last week, I couldn't function. :( Better now though! Mostly. 
> 
> I put pictures of Laura and James in as text links when they first appear to Stiles, it seemed logical, since I realized I wanted to put them in there. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Ten 

Derek is sitting across from Dr Morell, in an overstuffed leather chair. Her office is a little boring- beige, and bland, with boring but pleasant pictures on the walls. She's a beautiful woman- dark skinned, with huge brown eyes that seem to see everything. She's calm, and she's sitting in her chair, cross-legged with her hands resting in her lap, as usual. Today her dress is black and yellow and white in a random pattern, and it suits her. 

"How have you been, Derek?"

"Pretty good. I- things with my bondmate are going well."

She gives him an encouraging smile. "That's good. Well enough for sexual activity? It's been two months or so, that'd be normal for most bonded pairs. Though, there are no rules, and there's nothing wrong with a yes, or no answer."

Derek sighs. She'd really latched on to his lack of interest in sex, when he'd brought it up in one of their early sessions. "Uhm, there's been some sexual contact. He asked for cuddles, and a good night kiss, and we laid down and fell asleep. Anyway, when we woke up, it just - escalated. It felt natural."

She nods. "That's good. It should feel that way. That's healthy, and typical. Were you in the moment, or did past experiences intrude in any way?"

Derek tilts his head. "No. It was just- me and him. It was- it was great. He's a lot of the good things I never let myself want."

"Do you want them now?"

He nods. "Yes. I do. I just- I know I need to tell him. I need to tell him before we're in too deep. But the idea of him leaving makes me hurt. I can't even-. I don't know what I'd do, or how I could give him up if he walked away."

She frowns. "Why would he do that, Derek?"

He frowns. "Most people probably wouldn't be thrilled about being bonded to a wolf."

Morell shifts in her chair. "Tell me what you know about soulmates, Derek."

So he tells her things he's read on Stiles' blog, things he's heard of in passing. She leans over. "Surely you've heard of the puzzle piece theory."

Derek sighs. "Yes. I was discussing it the other day. We're still - working on sorting that out. I know it's possible that not having the entire picture is making it harder. I'm actually pretty certain it is. His friend implied pretty heavily that she was - something not human, and she absolutely stank of a wolf. They live in Boston, she was in town visiting. Well. She said that, I'm fairly certain she was there interrogate me."

Morell tipped her head slightly to the side. "Something not human, like?"

Derek shrugs. "I honestly couldn't say. She said she woke, even after her bond - so- it's just an assumption. Maybe it's a metaphor. But, it didn't seem like it."

Morell leans back in her chair. "Have you introduced him to your pack? He doesn't have to know they are more than your sister, and brother in law?"

"I know. I will manage both."

"Before next time."

Derek nods. "Before next time."

Morell talks about small victories, and building personal momentum, and let's him talk when he wants. He is thrilled to finally find a therapist that understands him. She'd been quick to see he wasn't a talker. It'd been a problem in many a therapist's office where they'd found his small quantity of words to be resistant. She seems to know when he's met his limit for an hour, and will spend some time discussing something else, whether its relevant to the topic or not. He takes it in, and thanks her when their time is up. 

He's tired as usual, even though the session wasn't actually that difficult. Stiles is home when he calls, and he asks if he can drop by, which is met with an enthusiastic yes. He ends up playing board games with both Stiles and Erica. Erica is cutthroat about Parcheesi, and there is popcorn everywhere, and she makes a fun little show out of stuffing her face like she's as a blockbuster movie whenever he and Stiles get a little lost in each other, and she wants them to focus. 

He texts Laura that he's just going to crash here tonight, and he follows Stiles to bed. Stiles drags him into bed the minute he's clear of his jeans. Derek, not used to being the little spoon, is being held in wiry strong arms, and Stiles has weaseled his calf between Derek's. "You're - fine on the outside, but I can feel something brewing. Is everything okay?"

"I'm just a little shaken. I had therapy this afternoon, and she was - herself. I usually have homework. This month's homework is going to be hard."

"What is it?"

"I have to tell you things about myself that I don't - I want to share them with you," he says, looking out the window. He sighs. "It scares me. I don't deserve you, Stiles. And, good things don't happen to me. It feels like you're going to be snatched away. I should know better. When you know - you'll walk away from me."

He felt Stiles tugging at his shoulder, encouraging him to face him, and Derek let him, shifting to look at his bondmate. Stiles has glassy wet eyes, and he sighs. "I don't know why you feel that way, Derek. You're beautiful. I can feel your heart- it echoes in me. Literally. You hurt, and you get up, and you're kind, and you care about your family, and my friends, and your patients. You're patient, and sort of funny. You got a cab for Erica, and you were nice to Gene, and I am thrilled that you're mine. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. I will still love you. 

"I might owe you an apology though. I- I wanted you to tell me first, but -" Stiles meets his eyes, and Derek doesn't quite know what's coming, until it's out there between them. "I know about the whole- lycanthropy thing."

Derek is just staring at him, and Stiles wraps a hand around his. "I know those blue eyes, I've seen eyes just like them. At first I thought, maybe it was just - an avatar, like mine- since I was an otter, but after I got to know you, and watch you- I knew. Maybe people that don't know about weres might not notice you getting slightly distracted by a scent, or that you occasionally hear things you shouldn't be able to."

Derek feels frozen. His mind is racing with a thousand questions, and he loses the battle for coherency and all that comes out is a sob. 

Stiles pulls him close. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, that I didn't tell you - sooner, or maybe better. I thought- well, honestly I though the tattoo would be a dead giveaway. And, when you liked it but didn't say anything I started to wonder. I decided to let you come to me, but I guess that was a bad idea."

Derek's mind is reeling, even if he's keenly aware of every word out of his bondmate's mouth. He knows. He knows, and he doesn't care. "But I'm a man shaped monster."

Stiles growls at him, which immediately gets Derek's attention. "No. You aren't, Derek. Are wolves monsters? No. They're predators, yes, but that is what they are. They keep order in the wild. That is the place that the natural order has set for them. And you aren't a wolf. You're a werewolf. Humans break the natural order constantly, otherwise we'd still be little more than ape." There's a pause, and Derek can hear Stiles' elevated heartbeat, and smell the nervousness and feel the heartbreak that's settled in his chest. "Can I read you something?" Stiles asks, cautiously.

Derek shrugs. "Okay?"

Stiles crawls out of the bed, and leaves the room. He comes back clutching a book, that's battered, and old looking. The spine of the old paperback is mostly white lines, and Derek can't read the title. Stiles climbs back in bed, under the blankets, facing Derek in the low light of his bedroom. "This is one of my favorite books. I read it a few years ago on a Christmas morning. Kira gave it to me. You should read it, just because it's a delight to the soul. It's about Christmas, and monsters try and take away humanity's right to believe in what is essentially Santa. And at the end the heroine has saved the day, and she's standing outside, and she's talking to Death who set her on the quest and she asks what would have happened if she hadn't won, and he says, that the sun would not have risen, a mere ball of burning gas would have illuminated the sky. And Susan says," and Stiles has moved to reading directly from the book,"'All right, I'm not stupid. You're saying that humans need fantasies to make life bearable.' And Death says, "'Really? As if it was some kind of pink pill? No. Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel, meets the rising ape.' And that's where I sit, and weres are the same- you're the place where the falling angel meets the wolf. And, I accept that about you, I love that about you."

Derek sighs, and he can feel, at least a little bit, why fate has given him this wonderful man that accepts him- that has a heart big enough to love him. "I don't know why you would. You know my eyes are blue. I've done-"

"Look at me, Derek," he says, wrapping Derek's hands up in his own long delicate fingers again, his voice a little sharp. "I can see that whatever changed your eyes scares you. That you aren't happy it happened, that you didn't kill out of malice, or anger or greed. If you had, it wouldn't be hurting you like this. You'd be just another monster in a world full of monsters - human or otherwise. But you aren't."

Derek nods. "I know. Most of the time I can remember that. Most of the time."

Stiles wiggles closer, and tucks his arms around Derek, and throws a leg over his. "Then I want you to remember that you're loved, whenever you remember that you aren't a monster. Because, I love you, Derek. We were given an amazing gift when the bond settled on us. I- we'll talk more in the morning, and then maybe we'll go see Laura, because I solved the puzzle Derek. I found the way we fit together- and - it's really- well it's sort of inconvenient in the short term- but, it's going to be - amazing, I think, in the end."

Derek sighs, wrung out, he'd been tired when he'd got there, but he's exhausted now, and just wants to sleep surrounded in Stiles' scent. "Tomorrow?"

Stiles chuckles. "Yeah, buddy. Tomorrow you're going to go home, and con your sister into inviting me over for dinner. After pancakes."

"I like pancakes with lemon and sugar."

"That does not sound good, but that's what you're getting."

"Sleep, Stiles."

* * *

Stiles outlines the plan, over pancakes and bacon the next morning. It is apparently Derek's job to go home, and casually mention all the fun they'd had yesterday- before bedtime- hanging out with Stiles and Erica playing games, and then leave her to stew. Stir the pot if necessary. Recruit James as a last resort.

It's a solid plan, and Derek heads home around ten, and sets the plan in motion. He tells Laura about game night, and about Erica and how well they get along. Derek sees the thought take root, and James is grinning because he's either figured out Derek's plan, or he's just desperately amused. Either way, Derek's pleased with his plan. He heads upstairs to change, and wait her out. 

It takes about two hours before he gets called downstairs.

* * *

"So," Laura says, sitting across from Derek at the table. James is sitting next to her, because they have decided they are done being side-lined. They want to know about the guy that's going to be part of their pack. They've been patient, and let Derek get to know him, and stayed firmly out of it. But, Laura is just - done. Curiosity is killing her, and only satisfaction will bring her back.

She's decided that today is a perfect day to corner him about it. He's in a good mood, and as far as she knows doesn't have any plans to see Stiles. Which, what the hell kind of name was that? James is making them a simple lunch of sandwiches and soup, because he is the best mate EVER, and Derek is grinning at the table. It's pretty weird.

She decides to go for it, and opens with, "Are you ashamed of your pack?" 

Derek's head jerks up, "What? No. What?"

"It's been over a month. Why has this man not been in my kitchen, Derek? At first, I thought maybe- we'd give you time."

"After some persuasion," James adds. "Much, by the way. You owe me."

"Whatever," Laura interrupts. "The question is still on the table."

Derek sighs. "I don't know. It's just - not seemed like the right time. We've been a little shaky, you know. But, things were good yesterday. More settled."

Laura looks over her shoulder at James and wants to sigh at her stupid brother. "Okay. That doesn't mean he can't just come by and meet us." Honestly.

Derek sighs, and accepts the plate that James puts in front of him. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, do the washing up."

Derek has a mouthful of turkey, and smoked gouda on oatmeal bread in his mouth already, but he nods, "Deal."

"Now, here's the important stuff, Pup," Laura says, around a mouthful of soup, only letting herself smile on the inside at her boys. She loves how well they get along, the looks they share like she won't notice them. They often act like former war buddies, victims of the exhaustion that is Laura Hale, but they love her, she's the alpha she knows. "Can you get him here for dinner?"

" I can ask."

"Do. Secondly, does he know you're a wolf?" It's a pretty important piece of information to have, and at this point the poor kid should probably be told if Derek hasn't already told him.

"Apparently. Which was a surprise to me, but apparently the eyes on the dream wolf gave me away. I'm shaky on the how of him knowing about werewolves, as of yet, but his friend Lydia is mated to one, she absolutely stank of one when she visited. Seriously, it was like she let him just rub himself all over her. If you know what I mean." 

Laura totally does know. She doesn't indulge herself that often, but she loves letting James rub his come and sweat into her skin, after a romp in the sheets usually right after a full moon. It's insensitive to other wolves, and she can imagine that this Lydia may not have expected to meet another wolf that wasn't simply in passing. But, oh its delicious- a bit dirty, and rather intense. 

"What does he smell like?" Laura asks, too curious not to ask. It's fairly personal, but if Derek doesn't want to tell her he won't. He's reliable like that. 

"Honestly, he smells like home. Like spring- like old leaves, and earth, and the forest. I'm not sure he knows enough to expect that my entire family is wolves, or not. It could just be- her boyfriend is bitten, and doesn't share anything, or he could know more. I don't know."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Derek. Because we are going to find out. Today. Invite him to dinner. We'll make something nice." 

Derek sighs. "I will ask! But, he might be busy."

James puts a hand over Laura's mouth, before she can speak. "For me, man."

Derek snerks. "I'll ask." James gets up and starts clearing plates. "Hey- no I got it," Derek says, standing. That had been the deal, and his sandwich, only half eaten, really is great.  
"Phone call first. Then, you can do whatever is left."

Derek pulls out his phone, and Laura is watching with a keen eye. Because she has a plan. Derek will hmm and try not to make any issue of it, but she is getting her way, dammit. She can hear it ringing, just before she deploys her best alpha-enhanced stealth attack, and snatches the phone from Derek's hand. 

"Hey you."

He sounds adorable. "Hi Stiles! How are you?"

"Uh- I'm fine-" the fine is drawn out and then followed with , "Laura?"

"Yes it is! I'm so glad you remember we exist. So, I have an invitation for you, if you're interested. Dinner, tonight? I'm going to make -"

James glares. "Excuse me!"

"My husband is going to make-"

"Tonight, when?"

"Is there any particular time that might work better for you? I'm absolutely willing to work with you."

Stiles is quiet for a moment. "So, it's an invitation I can't refuse?" 

There's some laughter in his voice, and Laura is slightly charmed, because it's a little funny, she has to admit. "Mostly."

"Can I talk to Derek please?"

"If you must," she concedes, and hands the phone to Derek, who is still sitting at the table, his face the picture of exasperation. Except, honestly, she's doing him a favor. How can Derek stand not having his pack together? This really isn't rocket science. "Derek, your sweetie honey sugar pie wishes to speak with you."

"Oh, thank you."

"Aww boo, you call me your sweetie honey? That's so cute."

"Hilarious. What's up?"

"I get the impression that isn't your idea. So, I wanted to check with you-"

"I don't want you to feel like you have to. At all. I know you're busy with work and -"

"Put Laura on."

Derek hands Laura the phone. "Laura-."

Laura snatches the phone from Derek, and does her best to pretend she didn't hear the entire conversation that just happened. "Hi Stiles. So nice to speak to you again."

"Hi. What's for dinner?"

"Uhm, pasta?"

"Sounds good. What time?"

"Six thirty?"

"Cool. Just up front, I'll come, but I'm staying the night. And I will be annoying, and I eat a lot, and you may want to run out and buy your own noise cancelling headphones if you don't have some. Just a suggestion."

Derek is blushing, and Laura wants to crow with laughter, but she can't. "Okay."

"Okay? Cool. Tell my mister to text me the address. Later, lady!" and he hangs up. Laura stares briefly at the phone and then up at Derek. "Wow, he's like a force of nature."

Derek is grinning at her, wide like she hasn't seen it in years, and she doesn't want to move. She doesn't want to do anything that will break the spell. Her brother looks happy, and it's been far too long since she's seen that on his face. Oh, he'd been - trucking along at sixty-percent okay, and forty percent devastated, but this smile is just joy, and happiness, and she wants to fucking throw a goddamned party, fuck dinner, somebody find the goddamned champagne, and bake a cake. "You better go shopping, I guess."

Laura growls, and he just grins at her. "I'm going to go wash my sheets. I heard a rumor my boyfriend was planning on sleeping on them tonight. And then I'm going to come down and finish the dishes. Can we also have garlic bread? Thank you!" he says, before heading out of the kitchen to head upstairs. 

James, leaves the dishes in the sink, and pulls his wife into his arms, grinning. "So, that was - amazing."

She nods, tears raising in her eyes. "I thought I'd never see that smile again."

James holds her, and pets her hair, and she loves him for it. Her James is sensitive, and kind, and loving, and as patient as the sea, and she loves him for it. They don't have a bond, their souls don't resonate, but he is all the pieces of her that she could ever want filled, and she loves him with every cell in her being. She leans back, looking up at him with a grin, after she collects herself, "So, shopping, I guess."

James laughs. "I'll write a list, and we'll go." Laura loves how he makes plans, and lists. It's - adorable, though she's not sure why.

* * *

He's only slightly nervous about going to the Hale house. He's excited to meet Laura, and James, and see Derek's natural habitat. He'd put the address into google maps, and gotten metro directions, but he hadn't really thought about where he was going, until he was staring at the doorstep of a historic five floor Brooklyn Brownstone. There's a small terracotta plantbox with purple and white flowers blooming in it in the window, and the stairs that lead up to it are framed in a black iron railing. The number is on the stairs in gold numbers 562. He takes a deep breath, and heads up the stairs and knocks.

He's pleasantly surprised by the face that answers the door. The man, [James](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/ayswen/IMAY/ben.jpg) presumably, has friendly brown eyes, and shaggy dirty blonde hair, and a crooked smile. He looks like a teddy bear in human form, an effect only made worse by the baggy blue knit sweater he's wearing with the sleeves jammed up to the elbows. "Stiles."

Stiles grins. "Yeah-! Hey, I brought some wine. I hope it's okay," he says, handing it over after they shut the door behind him. He also has a bag with a toothbrush, a shaving kit, clothes for tomorrow, a bottle of lube and a strip of condoms. He's looking forward to this, he really is. He has no pajamas because he has zero intentions on sleeping in clothes. 

"Ooh! Malbec, that'll be great. So, welcome to the madhouse. [Laura](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/ayswen/IMAY/laura%20hale.jpg) is currently fuming in the kitchen that I made her promise to stay in there until you'd had a minute to adjust. I am super generous like that."

"Thanks. I- I didn't realize how nervous I'd be."

James grins. "Yeah, I bet, but honestly, it'll be fine. Derek is upstairs. You want to go up? He's probably gotten lost in whatever he's reading, or he'd already be down. It's two floors up."

Stiles smiles, so grateful that he's not immediately besieged. "Thanks, man."

"No problem. We'll call you down when its ready, or you can join us when you want."

Stiles grins, and heads up the stairs just in front of him. The house itself at a quick glance is charming. The dining room is right in front of him, a simple clean room with a table and six chairs, and some large walnut hutches stuffed with the normal detritus of a home- stacks of envelopes that will inevitably be almost entirely junk mail, a laptop, pens, magazines, a book. Beyond that is a living room with big comfy chairs, and fluffy toss pillows, and a huge flatscreen. He grins, heading up the stairs, two flights, before finding himself on a landing. There's a bathroom, and a laundry room, and but the next door yields a victory. Derek is sitting at a desk in a bedroom. The bed is freshly made, and covered with a thick chocolate colored down comforter, and white sheets, and four pillows - two white, two a dark green. It's very Derek. There are a few pictures on the wall- a stretched canvas photograph of a forest with dense undergrowth, a deer in the background staring at the photographer intently, a bridge made of driftwood over a small stream. It's beautiful, and so is the man at the desk. He actually has headphones on, and Stiles takes great pleasure, sneaking up behind him and leaning his chin on Derek's shoulder, after tossing his overnight bag onto the bed.

Derek only jumps the barest inch, and Stiles figures he knew he was here, he was just letting him observe, and trying to not be obvious about his heightened senses. He takes the headphones off and places them on the desk, before making himself comfortable in Derek's lap, with a grin. "Hey."

"Hey."

Stiles sighs heavily, and leans against his bondmate in some approximation of a hug. "I missed you. I didn't even feel a little bit bad about telling Erica she was on her own for dinner. Because, not only food that isn't take out, but it's been too many hours since I've seen your pretty face."

Derek glares. "I am not pretty."

"Oh you so are," Stiles says, leaning in, and pressing a kiss to Derek's lips. "And, honestly, I am madly in love with the unshaved scruffy thing you've got going today. Super amazingly sexy."

"I can tell," Derek says, and he can. Stiles smells like wanting already, which is amazing. "Can't for work, but- it grows in fast."

"Well, then I'll just have to get in some hard earned beard burn while I can," he says, rocking against him, grinning like the cat that is planning on eating the canary and knows he's going to get away with it.

Derek is kissing him then, and Stiles grins against his lips. "That's okay, right?" he asks, in between kisses, and Derek's arms are wrapping around him, hands sliding over his hips, and around to settle on his ass. Stiles is cursing the fact that he decided to wear clothes today. They are super in the way right now!

"So okay, Honey Bear ."

Stiles snerks. "So good to hear, Boo."

Derek groans when Stiles slides his hands under the henley he's pulled on, over his stomach, and flicks the edge of a nail over a nipple. "Fuck. You know, I was not expecting this."

"Boo, I haven't seen you in like five hours. You should be happy I didn't just jump you the second I cleared the door."

"Should I? That sounds pretty appealing. And don't call me, Boo."

"But, Boo, I have to call you something," Stiles says, grinning, and tugging up Derek's shirt, and skimming a hand up his abs, and onto his shoulders. 

"Can't I just be Derek?"

"Absolutely not," Stiles says, kissing him again. "We probably should wait huh?"

Derek grumbles lightly, pressing kisses against his bondmate's neck. "Ruin my fun."

Stiles leans down and looks Derek in the eye, "I promise that I am merely delaying - a lot of filthy sweaty noisy fun."

"Fuck," Derek says. "Get out of my room, or I am going to throw you on my bed and tear all your clothes off, incubus. "

Stiles grins, and stands up from Derek's lap. "I guess I can that for you, Boo. I'll ah, be out there. Waiting. Because wow am I not going down to face your sister alone."

Derek nods. "Yup. Just give me a minute."

Stiles ducks into the bathroom to think about gross things like sidewalk vomit on a Sunday morning, or Jackson. He washes his hands, letting cold water run over his wrists and hands, trying to literally cool off. Derek knocks on the door, and Stiles dries his hands and ducks out. "Sorry about that. It just sort of escalated really quickly on me."

Derek grins. "Don't apologize. You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Stiles takes in little details he'd missed in his rush to get upstairs. The stairwell has framed pictures along the walls- photos of a big family all crushed together into a picture. Laura holding a pair of young boys on her lap, grinning up at the camera, around nine or ten years old. There's a tiny boy standing next to the chair, with a big grin that's about six or seven. There's a picture of Laura and James, a few years younger, in a suit and a beautiful long wedding dress, with a bundle of red and orange calla lilies in her hand. There's more, but Derek is standing on the landing, and Stiles rushes down to meet him. "Sorry."

"It's okay. We can look. We don't have a lot of pictures, just a few we managed to find- after, and a few that other people had that have been sent to us. And- ones we've taken."

Stiles nods. "I bet that was a day, huh?" he asks, pointing to the wedding picture. He's looking at the background actually, the photo is posed, but it's on a lawn, and there are people around the edges, but none of them are familiar. 

"Yeah, it was a zoo. But it was great. Ready to face the madness?"

Stiles grins, and then cracks up when he hears, "Oh, fuck you, Derek!" from the kitchen.

Oh yeah, totally not wolves. Nope. Please. 

The kitchen is weirdly positioned in the house, behind the small walkway when you enter the house, galley style, but nice. There's a big sunny window facing the street, and the walls have been painted, a warm buttery yellow. The house smells of tomato sauce, and garlic and Stiles feels his mouth start to water. The last time he had food that didn't come from a takeout box, or delivered by wait-staff was the last time he was home, and he's looking forward to this meal to a degree that is slightly embarrassing. 

Laura grins when she spots them, holding out a hand. "Welcome. It's nice to finally meet you. We've heard a lot about you."

Stiles smiles. "Likewise. Thanks for inviting me. It smells amazing."

"Thanks, Stiles," James says, with a grin, and a subtle inhale that means he's caught the scent of probably both of them, and is amused. "So, I'll do my best to not let Laura interrogate you all night, but she's definitely going to try. Just warning you."

Stiles grins. "Hey, it's cool. Did Derek tell you about the grilling he got from my friend Lydia? Believe me, I might be due. He was a trooper about it, didn't even get mad when they banished me to go get pizza, just insisted on paying and that I get him a pie that was at least half covered in meat." Stiles isn't nervous babbling at all. Riight. 

"Dinner is in a few minutes. Derek, why don't you show your mate to the dining room. I'll bring the bowls in, in a few." 

Derek grins, and drags Stiles out of the tiny kitchen, and into the dining room ten steps away. He lets Stiles take it all in, wander around the living room, and peek down the stairs to the den downstairs that they mostly only use on full moons when they don't go upstate to run in the preserves that are about two hours north. "Nice den. The pillows look great for puppy piling."

Derek shakes his head, chuckling. "I dare you to say that to Laura's face."

"Hey, dinner's up," Stiles and Derek return to the dining room. after going up the small set of stairs, and James has laid out a salad, a bowl of pasta, bread, and moved a crock of sauce and meatballs onto the table top. The food tastes better than it smells and Stiles does his best to not melt into his chair. "Who taught you to cook?" Stiles asks, curious.

"My mother. You never know what role you'll fall into in a pack, and so we all learned to cook, and do handy around the house things, accounts- all sorts."

Stiles mock-glares at Derek. "You told them? Ruin all my fun."

"She asked, and I couldn't lie."

"Misdirection, babe! Come on. We'll work on it. Anyway, that's cool. My pack is a little uhm, unorthodox, I guess. None of us are family. Well, Scott's my step-brother now, but that's a recent change."

Laura tilts her head, like this is new information she's absorbing, so Stiles goes for it. Because he's promised Derek he'd explain, and it'll be easier this way, and he'll know if he has Laura's buy in. Because if she isn't on board, it'll all fall apart. "I mean, it's cool. We're actually being sheltered. Which is generous. I don't think I knew how much until recently. She took the starter pack in when no alpha claimed them after they were bit. I was - sort of along for the ride. And, we've grown a bit over the years. Which she is cool with, since - you know, it only gives her more power."

"Sheltered?" Laura blurts out, clearly surprised by the information. "An alpha is sheltering a pup that isn't hers?"

"Ah- yup. Even her pack - is mostly not her family. I mean, her daughter is pack, but the rest of her children have gone to other packs. The rest of them were adopted in, I guess. Some are born, some are bitten. The main pack is twelve strong, and our sheltered pack is the ten of us."

"Ten? My best count was seven," Derek interrupts, curious.

Stiles turns his head, "Seven?" He supposes he doesn't talk about Liam or Mason much, they've just started college together at US Santa Cruz.

"You, Erica, Scott and Kira, Jackson, Lydia and Danny."

"Ah, Danny's boyfriend is Ethan- he's a wolf, Danny isn't. And Little Liam grew up, and brought Mason with him. And Scott's mom. Three wolves, a fox, five humans, and a banshee."

Laura frowns. "Wolves and foxes don't usually mix."

Stiles grins. "I had heard that. Believe me, our alpha was not a happy camper when Kira and Scott got together, but she's great. It probably doesn't help that our Alpha in waiting is all sunshine, and like one hundred and fifty percent less alpha personality than anybody I've ever met. But, the power's sitting there, waiting for him to take it. He's been on the edge since junior year of high school. Our alpha basically told him to wait until we were older, smarter, wiser- that challengers would come to take what would look like easy prey. A baby alpha with a pack with more humans than weres, and no emissary." He doesn't mention that Satomi had told him that the other alpha in the territory, Laura presumably, might see it as a threat to her claim to the territory as well, and come back, claws out before they could explain.

"Do you have territory?"

Stiles shrugs. "Sort of. Our alpha is - she's old. Even for a wolf, she's old. She wants to take her daughter, and her lover and go home. When she's ready to go, we'll take over the territory, if she feels it'll be safe, and - though it's not guaranteed, probably also offer her pack families a place if they want it. It's two families and their kids, and funny guy named Matt. They would have to accept Scott as their Alpha, or find a new pack. Which would be totally fine."

Laura pauses, her fork halfway to her mouth, "So, is an emissary being trained?" Stiles can see the curiosity in her eyes. He knows it's not super easy to find a human with a spark, let alone one to trust enough to ask them, and he's not sure that Laura even tried, after her family was killed. He imagines it'd be difficult to trust almost anybody for a while.

Stiles shakes his head, "Not currently. One was being trained, but he bonded to a wolf from a small family pack. He's not going to leave, and it would be wrong to expect him to." He lets that bomb drop at the table, and Derek drops his fork entirely. "So, I'm almost entirely trained. I'm sealed to magic, I'm formally accepted into the brotherhood of druids. Which is a horrible name, since there's tons of cool lady druids, but whatever, I don't get much of a say apparently, because whenever I brought it up, I was told to shut up."

Derek growls, and stands. "Upstairs, now."

Stiles nods, and wipes his mouth with his napkin. "We'll probably be a few."

Laura nods, looking sort of dumbfounded.

Upstairs, Derek is in his bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry. Should I have - maybe not just.. said it like that?"

Derek reaches out, and Stiles slides his hand into Derek's, who tugs him closer. "It's just a shock. I mean, to go from- has a friend that's dating a werewolf, to realizing you're in someone else's pack. I just want to -" Derek rubs his face against Stiles' stomach. "Rub my scent all over you, and mark you as mine."

Stiles sits down on the edge of the bed. "You can a little, if you need to." Stiles has long since stopped questioning the wolf instincts that his wolf packmates display, and the need to mark their mate is apparently a strong one. He lets Derek rub his hands on his neck, and over his cheek bones. When he's done, Stiles sighs. "The second we bonded, my pack standing changed, I just didn't know it yet. I can't be yours, and be the emissary for Scott's pack.

"I was talking to Professor May, and when that came out, I was basically dismissed inside of five minutes. I guess it's inappropriate, or the magic won't - I didn't get that many details, to be honest. I was just reeling."

"I'm sorry."

Stiles tilts his head. "Why?"

"I took you from your pack-"

Stiles grins. "You did no such thing. Fate did, and we'll find a way still be friends. And honestly, you better believe I'm taking Erica with me. Let's go back downstairs. I have more. I told you last time- it's going to be amazing. I promise you."

Derek nods. When they get back downstairs, Laura and James are still at the table, and James smiles when they come back in. "Better?" he asks, giving Derek a genuine smile. Stiles likes James already. 

They settle back down, and it's sort of quiet, everyone's picking at their food, when Stiles can't take it anymore and asks, "Are you planning on returning to your territory?"

Stiles doesn't miss the way Laura looks first and James, and then at Derek, wary of the question. "Probably. We'd been discussing it. That - we wanted to have kids, that it'd be better to have them in the territory. Raise them away from the city."

Stiles nods. "So, I need you to ask me a question."

Laura frowned. "Okay?"

"Ask me where my pack's future territory is."

Derek answers instead, intent. "Where is it, Stiles?"

Grinning, he answers, "It's the other half of Beacon Hills."

This time is Laura that's dropping cutlery, and James is staring intently. Derek looks like he wants to laugh, and Stiles just lets them think that one over for a while, and then, "Satomi is the one sheltering you?"

"Yes." It was a sort of fascinating concept. That an alpha may have an alpha child, or even two, and only one would be able to take over the pack, and so the child, or beta would be allowed to collect a pack, under the banner of the parent, until they're ready to leave to find a new territory. 

Laura hmms, still thinking it over before adding, "She's always been kind to us. I usually see her when I go to do the annual claiming ritual."

"She's been maybe a little nicer than you know. And as a disclaimer, I put this together in the last week, so I haven't been sitting on it for a while. But --my friends Scott, Jackson, and Lydia were bit by a rogue alpha wolf in 2012. He never claimed them."

Laura whimpers. "I checked- I checked hospitals and-"

"Scott never reported it when he got bit. He was just like oh shit, dog bite, and he cleaned it up, and bandaged it. Lydia and Jackson- well. At that point I figured out what happened to Scott. It was the worst timing ever- just before a full moon. The thing with Lydia was, she got bit- but- she healed and then never turned. We didn't know if it was possible to be immune. Jackson- he just started oozing everywhere-black."

Derek interrupts. "But he's alive! He's in Boston. If your body rejects the bite you die- you don't-"

Stiles nods, "Yeah. I'm not sure what Satomi did, but she changed him. Toshiro, her emissary, said that two forms were warring, and it was killing him. I'm not sure of the details, but they stabilized him, and the scales stopped, and he was all wolf."

"Three. And kids. Fuck," Laura says, her voice filled with tears. Stiles looks to James, who pulls her into his arms. "I'm sorry."

Stiles shrugs. "Don't be sorry. Honestly, things are okay. I mean, okay Lydia was a weird mystery for a long time, but - it all ironed itself out. Nobody in our pack ever bit anybody else. Well, except Liam- long story- not currently relevant. And, it's not like you didn't try. And Satomi could have told you. 

"And look- now, you'll have - potentially anyway- your territory, a decent sized pack you'll have strong ties to on your border, and your own emissary- if you'll have me. I mean, I'll have to stay in the city for at least one more term to finish my classes, but-"

Laura stares, and Stiles realized she probably didn't have time to put together the pieces. James is grinning, and Derek looks somewhat dumbstruck. "Your alpha is going to hate me."

Stiles laughs, "He really won't. He's a ray of sunshine on earth. I'm certain that there are probably formalities that will crop up. I know Satomi paid a portion of my tuition so I could train with May. I'm not sure if that will have to be paid back, or if you'll be asked to pay for whoever they find to be an emissary for Scott, or if you might be asked to take over the sheltering. But- it'll be - good."

Laura just nods, and Stiles can tell she needs time to process it. Stiles smiles. "Come on, Derek. Let's pack you a bag. I think Laura and James might need the house tonight."  
Derek nods, and they head upstairs. When they come back down, Laura and James have retreated to the den. Derek pokes his head in. "Hey, we're going to go. If you need me, I have my phone."

Laura just nods, and James walks them out. He steps outside the house, and closes the door after him to stand on the step into the house. "Laura's been a wreck for a while, trying to figure out how to juggle her instincts, and the need to protect Derek. It's a little overwhelming to get everything all neatly wrapped up in a bow. Someone to take care of her brother, an emissary, to feel like she can go home to her territory without feeling like she'd be unprotected. She's wanted to go home, and settle down, and start having kids for a little bit."

Stiles smiles. "Well, fate comes through for us all, I guess. We can talk more about it another day, when you have all had time to process. Hey, out of curiosity - who is the emissary now?"

James frowns, and then shrugs as if he's considering whether telling Stiles is a good idea, but doesn't seem to see the issue when he answers. "Alan-"

But he doesn't get to finish because Stiles is shouting. "Deaton? Fucking, Deaton? That goddamned mother fucker has been holding out on me for years. I knew it!" Stiles grins, a sort of dangerous looking grin, that is full of mischief before saying, "I can't wait to go home now. I'm going to be so obnoxious. Apologies in advance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mess of a quote that Stiles shares with Derek is from Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. He also quotes it to him in an earlier chapter when he says, "Things just happen, what the hell." - my head-canon is that Kira gave him this book as a Christmas present the first year he didn't make it home for Christmas during college, and he spent the entire day reading it. It's a fantastic book about Christmas, and human nature, and I recommend it to absolutely everyone. 
> 
> I had no idea it was going to include it when I was writing and then all of a sudden Stiles was like, 'I KNOW!' -- who knew. Seriously, he and Laura are so bossy. :p


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which The Hales descend on Beacon Hills, and we transition to Act 3.

Chapter Eleven

Kira is pretty tired, the first trimester gestating a were- baby is fairly exhausting, and her doctor said it's normal. Deaton said it was fine. She believes them, but somehow it seems like a horrible trick of evolution that creating a tiny person inside her would make her want to sleep almost all the time. Stiles had decided at the last minute that he wanted to meet the Hales at the airport. Scott had sent her, as a sign of good faith, and it gave her a break from working on her thesis. It'd been a drive- forty five minutes in thankfully great traffic to the small airport in Redding. She'd actually fell asleep to Stiles humming along to the radio, but he'd woke her up when they got there, and she'd helped him carry the sign into the arrivals gate. 

In the terminal they find the flight is running about 30 minutes behind schedule. Stiles decides to spend this time, sitting next to her, bouncing his leg, chewing his thumb the way she hasn't seen him do in years, and asking her if he can get her anything. 

"I'm not sick, I'm just -"

"Very busy on a cellular level?"

She nods. "Yeah. You going to survive forty minutes of anticipation?"

"Funny. Thanks for agreeing to come."

She nods. "Well, it's pretty important, right? Besides, you've been super rude and not shared any pictures, and all I know is through Erica. Which, I'm not sure what to do with that description."

Stiles raises an eyebrow. "Oh god. What did she say?"

"She said he was the hottest guy she'd ever seen with caterpillar eyebrows and bunny teeth."

Stiles snerked. "Which sounds unappealing, but she's totally right."

Kira shrugs. "We'll see," she's not sure why there's a total picture blackout. I mean, yes the whole thing with the eyes, but she knows from experience you can, if you focus hard enough, keep it from happening, or failing that not look directly at the camera. But seriously, she's asked Erica, and Lydia for pics, and they said they didn't have any. Which meant it was total bullshit. She was just starting to doze off when she saw Stiles' attention catch- he sat up a little straighter, and looked towards the door. "What?"

"The resonance just kicked in. You want to come stand with me, or you gonna rest, pretty lady?"

Kira grins, and stands up. "No, I'll come. I'm not sick, just tired."

She lets Stiles pull her to her feet, after he gives her an affectionate shoulder nudge. She grins. "You're ridiculous you know," she says, gesturing to the sign. 

"Oh, do I know. But, I love it."

She grins. "Oh, I know you do. I watched you make it, with that evil gleam in your eye."

Which is when Stiles turns on his heel, and watches the door. Kira watches as a man walks through, he's adorable, with brown hair and blue eyes, and he's wearing a blue ski jacket. He has a laptop bag slung across his chest, and he looks travel worn. "James! Hey, man!" Stiles goes in for the hug, and James claps him on the back. 

"Good to see you. Thought we were meeting you at yours?"

"Well, I caved. I miss my Boo. What can I say? This is Kira, Scott's wife- my step-sister-in-law."

"And where's Scott?"

Kira grins. "He had work. It's puppies day at the local shelter, and they give them all checkups when they get in. It's the busiest day of the month."

James looks confused, and Kira knows he knows. "Your alpha let you take his pregnant wife to meet a different pack?"

Stiles shrugs. "It's not like we don't know you? Where's Laura, and Derek?"

"Grabbing the bags. I'm going ahead to get the rental. How about I meet you in short term parking?"

"Fifteen?"

"Sounds good. Kira, lovely to meet you," he says, and heads out towards the rental depot area further down the terminal. Kira turns back, and sees a pair that can only be siblings, walking towards them down the hallway from baggage claim. They have three bags between them, and a laptop bag. The woman is beautiful, with pale skin, striking green eyes, and long dark brown hair that falls below her shoulders in styled reddish brown waves. She looks tired, but it does little to take away from how truly beautiful she is. 

The man next to her is tall, and broad shouldered, with the same green eyes- and nearly black caterpillar eyebrows. His lower face is covered in dark stubble, and a grin that takes over his face, when he sees Stiles, who is still watching James' exit. Kira nudges him, and she lets Stiles hand her his ridiculous sign, and Stiles has launched himself at the beautiful man in front of him. Kira grins, even when she's left standing with a large white sign with purple glitter that says HELLOOOO NURSE! Typical Stiles. 

Derek hitches Stiles up, and wraps arms around his hips to hold him up, while Stiles has wrapped his arms around Derek's neck, and is kissing him. It's adorable, (and a little ridiculous, but that's Stiles all over) and she snaps a few pictures, and quickly texts them to Scott. Because her darling Scott has been fretting over this for weeks.

But, this- Stiles loves with everything that he is. It took her a while to figure it out, especially in the face of the tempestuous relationship that he'd had with Erica in high school. But, she'd picked it up. He had met Scott, and they were best friends for life inside of probably five minutes, to Stiles. The second Scott had brought up the ring that Scott had given her the summer before their sophomore year of college, he'd probably given up any reserve he'd had over adding her to his list of family. He'd loved Lydia since the day he'd noticed girls were a thing that existed. Derek, and probably even James and Laura were his family now too, and the scene in front of her was love- completely without fear, unabashed, and unselfconscious. It was actually really beautiful, in ways that the pack were never allowed to see in Lydia and Jackson, for all it was completely obvious that they were probably equally as devoted to each other. 

Laura is grinning at them, and then eventually pipes up, saying, "Boys, you're causing a scene."

Stiles kisses Derek one more time, before grinning over at Laura, still wrapped around Derek, before letting go, and sliding to the floor, as Derek holds on until he's firmly upright. Derek is blushing, actually blushing, damn Erica was right the man is gorgeous. "Sorry not sorry!" Stiles says, grinning at her. 

Laura shakes her head, and Stiles leaves Derek's side to rush over to her, and pull her back to them. "Guys, this is Kira Yukimura. Kira, this is Alpha Laura Hale, and her brother Derek- who is incidentally, my Boo."

Kira watches as they turn to greet her. Derek seems to hesitate over greeting her, first taking in the hideous sign, and then the smallest hint of movement like he'd thought to put a hand out to shake before thinking better of it.. It's very respectful of them both to not attempt to touch her, and put their scent on her, even if Stiles has never been good at picking up on the smaller niceties of scent, simply because he can't smell them. He's getting better though, which is a relief to probably everyone. "It's nice to meet you, and we met James briefly, on his way to get a car. I hope your flight wasn't too bad?" she asks, smiling, as they head out of the terminal to short term parking. She catches Derek nuzzling at Stiles' neck, and rubbing his thumb lightly over his cheek. Kira bites back the tiny urge to grab him back, and rub Scott and her scent all over him again.

"Just long," is Laura's reply. "But, it's better than driving. We did that exactly once, and I'm not doing that ever again if I can help it. So, I see that Stiles couldn't wait another hour to see us," she says, grinning.

Kira nods emphatically. "He lost that battle days ago, if not weeks ago. We're really glad you're here. I think my husband's brain was going to explode turning over what ifs, if the wait was much longer."

Kira enjoys the small talk to the parking lot, where Stiles kidnaps Derek, and shoves him into his beat up old Jeep. It's a miracle the damn thing ever starts, as far as she's concerned. It'd been a miracle in high school. Kira decides that the best way to survive this trip is the pass out, so she does, because she's safe- safe with her brother, and her future brother in law. And, things that had seemed so fraught even a month ago with everyone wondering what they were going to do, and how horrible any sort of negotiation they would be going through would turn out for them, now seems - not so bad. 

Derek glances over his shoulder, to see Kira, who has balled up a plaid shirt against the side of the Jeep, and grins at her. She smiles back a little drowsy but still awake. "So, a baby on the way, huh?"

Stiles nods. "Yup, the newest McCall. There's bets on a wolf, or a fox. Let me know if you want in."

Derek laughs. "Sure. How far along are you?"

Kira smiles, "Twelve weeks."

"That's great. Nearly out of the first trimester. You'll be less tired then," he says, remembering his mother being exhausted, when she'd been carrying the twins, and also Cora. 

"Thank God. I've barely gotten any work done on my thesis in weeks."

It's quiet for a while, Stiles has turned on an old Fleet Foxes album, and is humming along while Derek takes in the landscape around him. It's beautiful here, she remembers living in San Francisco, but it was nothing like the rugged Northern California forests, and mountains. She wonders if he thinks it's as beautiful as she does. In the end they end up getting stopped about halfway between Redding and Beacon Hills for traffic, and they decide to simply pull off at the next exit and get a late lunch. They find a little mom and pop restaurant that makes some truly remarkable sandwiches. For once everything smells and tastes great, and she scarfs down her sandwich with an unsweetened decaffeinated green tea. She worries she might look a little crazy, but she's been hungry for hours, even when food turns her stomach. 

The Hales talk about things like work, and school, and how it's going putting the house on the market. They seem genuinely thrilled to see Stiles again. They talk like family, Stiles asks James about an article he's working on for American Science about imagination and cognition. She's not sure she gets all of it, but James says it's interesting, even if the author has a problem with commas. She's interested to find that their jobs are just as varied as their own pack's plans. It's encouraging in its own way. 

They're getting ready to leave, Derek has wrapped half his food to go, and Laura has insisted on picking up the tab, and the waiter has just taken it away, when Laura turns to Stiles and says, "So, you managed to survive an entire three weeks without sex. I'm so proud of you, Stiles." Her face is the definition of evil glee, and Kira wants to be invisible.

"Hey, thanks Laura. I'm pretty proud too," Stiles snarks back, "You wouldn't believe the self control it took. I guess my participation in no fap February that one time was good practice, even if that didn't work out for anybody. But- you know, distance makes the dick grow harder, and all that. So, I apologize in advance for any auditory and olfactory issues you might have tonight."

Kira is staring, hand over her mouth. Their pack is all certainly aware of the sex that goes on between members, and non-members, but that doesn't mean they go around talking about it! It had gotten especially weird when everybody knew that Scott's mom, and Sheriff Stilinski were together, but they were keeping their distance like they weren't. Sex wasn't a taboo subject by any means, but nobody really just put it all out there over lunch! But James is cracking up, and Derek is looking a little smug, and she guesses it's a weird in-joke, but-- wow awkward.

"It's cool, I brought Vicks vaporub, and headphones," Laura says, like it isn't anything, but she's grinning, and just like that it's over. They pile back in the cars and head north. Stiles drops Kira off at her apartment. When she gets inside, and has taken off her jacket, and shoes, Scott is standing in the doorway to the dining room with questions all over his face. "Hey."

"So? What are they like?" he asks, intent when she sits what is considered her chair at the table, that's covered in abandoned work from the clinic.

"They're - nice. Derek is clearly absolutely nuts about Stiles. He was pretty subtle about it, but he spent the first forty-five minutes they were together, covering him in his own scent- in little ways, but - it was definitely there. I was sort of in and out in the backseat, and they were chatting about people he works with, and Erica, and the cat, and a movie they want to go see. Honestly Scott? I just saw a family. A happy family reunited. Even if they're weirdly open about sex."

Scott looks up, caught between a laugh and a cough. "What?"

She explains and Scott shakes his head. "Wow. That's - special."

"Yeah."

Scott lets out a breath. "Okay." 

Kira grins, laying a hand over his. Scott's been stressed since he got the news about Stiles having to leave the pack because of his bond. Anger, and fear had raged against each other pretty hard, and in the end the only relief had come from Stiles coming home, and being the same Stiles that he had ever been. "I know it's hard. We'll get through this."

Scott shrugs, and closes the file that's open in front of him. "Okay."


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are revelations, negotiations, blow-ups, and lacrosse.

Chapter Twelve

Stiles is surprised to find Toshiro on the doorstep later that night. He's dressed in his usual khaki pants and button up, and he looks pretty chill, despite the fact that he's showing up at the temporary Hale house, the night before negotiations open. "Toshi, hello! Uhm, do you want to come in?" Stiles asks, holding the door open. Only the Hales are in the house today, his dad and Melissa are at her house for the duration. 

"If it's okay with the alpha, then I would. Satomi asked me to come and share some information with your new pack." Laura has come down the stairs, and she nods at Stiles, who opens the door, and lets the older man in. 

The Ito pack Emissary has always been kind, if aloof to the members of the pack that Satomi took in. He'd been the one that had saved Jackson, really, in the end, and helped Liam gain control over the wolf. Stiles has a soft spot for Toshi, even if he had always gotten the impression that they were mostly a pain in his ass. Stiles shows him to the living room, and let's him have the nice leather chair his dad likes to review case files in. 

The entire pack is in the living room in a few minutes, and Stiles grins. "Can I get you anything? Coffee?"

Toshi shakes his head. "Thank you, but no. Satomi asked me to come here and meet with you. We had stumbled over some information about two years ago, that we wanted to share with you. We had hoped to catch you before you left for the annual ritual last year, but you were gone before we were aware you had even been here."

Laura nods, and Stiles mentally calculates that she must have gone last winter at some time- when Derek had been in fairly bad shape. Oh, he still had what Stiles called wobbles, where he falls back into feeling like hurt, and unworthiness, but they're less frequent, and Stiles is glad for that. "I'm sorry. I know I usually make a point to visit, but last year was- it wasn't a good time."

"That was assumed. And then of course not long after we heard about your Derek and his soulmate from Alan. There are no hard feelings, only regret that perhaps now is not the best time to share it with you. Satomi was concerned you might feel that this was perhaps kept from you on purpose if it wasn't brought you to you before tomorrow."

Before they start negotiations. Stiles nods, it's a valid concern, and a show of good intentions that she's doing this. But then Satomi, for all that she was a hard old wolf, had always had a kind side that she liked to pull out for the horrible moments, and when it was most likely to freak people out. She was funny like that. "We appreciate that," Stiles says. The information is clearly for Laura, but if Satomi sent Toshiro, it's the done thing to only talk directly to the other emissary. Who should technically not be Stiles, but calling Alan would take forever, and as far as Stiles is concerned the negotiations are a formality, not really a necessity. 

"We heard rumors of a young girl, about Stiles' age, living in a pack in Brazil. Dark of hair, bright green eyes- a wolf - that walks as a wolf - a black wolf. You have to admit not many lines carry the ability, and none in the Americas. Satomi thinks it may be the youngest Hale girl child."

Stiles had learned in the last few months how rare a skill it really is, how prized. It's possible, if pretty unlikely, right? Laura and Derek are frozen on the couch. Derek is a complete contradiction because he's perfectly still on the couch as if frozen, but he's a raging storm on the inside. "Wait, is that possible? I mean, I'm certain that fire inspectors, and the sheriff's department would have - you know, checked the house for bodies."

"I will go, and leave the discussion to you. I'll see you all tomorrow."

Stiles shakes his hand, and shows him to the door with a thank you, and a customary goodbye, and turns back to see his little pack, all in a pile on the couch. "So, it's possible?"

James sighs. "I don't know for sure. No one stuck around after the fire. I always got the impression that they settled Peter in the hospital and ran."

Stiles nods. "I'll ask my dad to pull the files. We'll find out if it's possible. But, something tells me Satomi wouldn't bring this to you, if it wasn't. Peter got out. Maybe he got Cora out. We'll find out, and if it's possible, we'll go find her. As much I can feel - literally- how much you guys want to go right now, we can't. I'm going to go out for a bit. I'll see if I can find out anything from my dad, and Alan can drop by for your meeting without me here. James, you got this?" he asks, gesturing to the two Hale siblings frozen on the sofa.

He nods, with a tiny grin. "Yeah, I got this."

Stiles does ask his dad to pull the records from the fire, but he doesn't linger at the house, lest his scent start to mingle. Tonight is probably not a good night to come home smelling like another alpha. Instead, he and Erica go see a random chick flick with the Sangster kid in it. It's cute, it's another generic soulmates movie. Stiles feels sort of jaded, since he knows how it really is now, but it's sweet, and the acting is pretty good. When he gets home, everybody is a bit more calm, and Laura says that her meeting with Alan went well, and he said he'd put some inquiries out on their behalf as well, let the cat out of the bag that the Hale pack is coming home. That it might stir up some information.

Stiles grins, and grabs Derek's arm. "Come on, buddy, let's go up to bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Derek nods. "Night," and he lets his hand linger on Laura's shoulder, and over James' fluffy hair for only a second, before Stiles is able to drag him upstairs. Derek clings to him like a limpet until he falls asleep a little after twelve. Stiles stares at the ceiling until two. 

Dawn comes swift, and the Hales are up and chugging coffee and stuffing themselves pull of oatmeal, apples and raw eggs, before Stiles is really aware that he is in fact also awake. They pile in the rental car, a boring but clean Camry, and drive out to the hotel. They've rented a meeting room. Traditionally they would have held it at the nemeton, but it's quite frankly too damn cold for the humans, and everyone had agreed that it would be fine. The negotiating table is a triangle made of three tables. Toshiro and Satomi will sit together at one, Scott and Stiles at another, and Laura and Deaton will take the third table. The rest of the pack will sit together in the remaining rows of chairs. 

Not everyone is in attendance, Liam couldn't make it, his parents had collected him from Stanford and they'd gone to Aruba for the break. The kids in Satomi's pack are elsewhere as well, which Stiles thinks is a shame, he likes the kids even Kit when he's being his brattiest, but their parents are here - Tasha and Mark are sitting with Matt, and Aaron and Amy are chatting with Lydia. Jackson is not far away, talking to Danny and Ethan. Kira and Erica are chatting happily with Melissa, about who knows what but probably baby things. His dad is also in attendance. Toshiro said that since Stiles was a bridge between packs, their neutrality was essential. Stiles totally got that.

They convene at exactly nine in the morning. Toshiro is the leader of the day's negotiations. Stiles will be the leader tomorrow, and Deaton will close the negotiations. "Good morning. We gather here today to begin negotiations between the Ito Pack, the Hale Pack, and the Delgado Pack. May the sun and the moon, and truth shine upon us today. Alphas please stand."

Stiles sneaks a quick peak up to see Melissa frown in confusion, and his father grinning at him proudly, and rubbing Melissa's shoulder. Scott and Stiles had discussed it at great length in the last few weeks. Scott had agreed that Rafe McCall didn't deserve the honor. They'd debated heatedly back and forth about whether to take Melissa's last name, or Kira's. There was history for the Yukimura name- a line of foxes going back generations. Scott had leaned heavily that way, until a few days before the Hales arrived, saying he'd changed his mind. He and Kira had apparently discussed it, and had decided that Melissa had deserved the honor. Stiles had a feeling that Deaton had also had a hand in that decision for some reason. The entire pack had agreed when they'd discussed it.

Laura, Scott and Satomi stand, and Toshiro hands them a blade. "Swear on your honor, your pack, and your own blood before us today that no weapons, claws, or falsehoods will be raised against each other."

Laura took the blade, and sliced neatly across her palm, letting it puddle in the center while she spoke. "I, Laura Jane Hale, swear on my honor, on my pack, and my own blood that no weapons, claws or falsehoods will be raised against each other."

Alan and Toshiro did the same, and then together they let the pooled blood pour from their hands into a small bowl. The bowl would sit for the day before it would be destroyed, but until then it was a potent magical incentive to behave. 

Toshiro continued after the oath was done. "Fate herself has set each of us on a new path. For some it has been joy, for some hardship, for some their path will not be decided until negotiations close. But all of us in this room wish to see us succeed. A beautiful future for Beacon Hills, and her supernatural residents is at our feet, and we only need the courage to find a way to get there. Fairness, and good faith will see us through from here, to there.

"We are blessed today, in that balance shines on us. So many negotiations rest on only two parties, but today, we are resting on the power and will of three packs. Surely, we will succeed in all of our goals." Toshiro is seated before he continues speaking.

"For the benefit of all in attendance that may not know, Alphas please introduce yourselves, and your emissary."

Each alpha introduced their emissary to the group. It was largely to introduce James and Derek to the group, as the rest of the group knew each other, but it was also traditional. 

The day was spent reviewing territory, marking out neutral sites - commercial zones, public buildings like courthouses, the police station, the library, schools. There was a kerfuffle over the Hale vaults being on the property, but it was given a pass as it wasn't something that would be easy to move. No one blinked an eye when both Stilinski homes were marked out as neutral territory. It's an uneventful day, and Stiles is glad. The real possibility that there will be offense and hurt pride will come when they dig into the meat of the negotiations. The laying out of the actual territories is important. He's fairly certain no one has any real intentions of policing their borders, but it doesn't hurt any of the wolves to know which areas belong to which pack. His dad had taken copious notes on that. 

Everyone is milling around, and Stiles agrees to babysit on Saturday for Brianne and Kit, while Aaron and Amy take a night off. Brianne is fourteen, yes, but she's also a werewolf, and Kit is only nine, and they're good kids, generally. They'll play video games and eat pizza and probably talk about the city for a while before they crash into bed. He wonders idly about offering to watch Tasha's unholy trio, before deciding that might be a bad idea. He introduces them to Derek, who is himself- reserved but not unfriendly, and amused when Stiles mentions his plans for Saturday.

Over the next forty minutes everyone files out, they'd opted to delay lunch to finish early for the day since they were making great progress over the map, and Stiles lingers as people exit. Eventually all that's left is Scott and Kira, the Hale Pack, and the Stilinskis. "So, are you the little rat that's responsible for that little switcheroo in there?" Melissa asks, sounding serious and more than a little annoyed.

Derek frowns, confused, and Stiles just grins. "Yeah. I am. Because that jerk-off that is your ex doesn't deserve it. He walked away from his kid, from my best-friend. He walked out on you, and you were sad for so long. 

"My mom didn't get a choice. She had to go, but I know in my heart that she didn't want to. She wanted to stay, and she wanted to watch me and Scotty grow up, and get into the kind of trouble she couldn't have ever imagined, she wanted to stay with my dad. But that asshole- walked on the both of you. 

"Scott and Kira are building something new. A new family- okay, a really big family that's full of friends and people that howl at the moon- but it's still a family. A new little were- baby on the way, and - it deserved a name that was better than what Rafe gave you. It deserved something that would honor where they came from."

"Do you remember that one night I asked you why you kept your name?" Scott asks, grinning at his mom. 

"Not particularly."

"You said you kept it because it was also mine. But now, you have a new name," he says grinning, and rushing to add, "It's a great name! But, I still had Dad's. Kira and I talked about it a lot, and then the rest of the pack- and we decided what we wanted to do."

Melissa has tears in her eyes, and when she opens her arms, Stiles, Scott and Kira all crowd in for hugs. Stiles sighs, and sets his chin on her shoulder. "You know I love you, right?"

She laughs. "Yeah, kid, I know. But when he calls I'm forwarding the call to you."

Stiles chuckles. "You think I haven't already talked to him? Please. I am awesome. This was explained in detail when he called Scott last Thursday demanding to know why he was changing his name. He wasn't happy, and I told him that we didn't give a single fuck. If he starts some more shit, you call me, and I'll cast an itching spell on him or something."

His dad is giving him that look that says 'The feels, kid. You slay me' and Stiles smiles, looking back at the Hales. Formal introductions time for sure. "So, sorry about the mushy stuff, Laura, I know you're allergic. This is my dad, John, and my totally awesome step-mom Melissa. My step-brother and best friend ever Scott Delgado, and you've met our Kira. Family mine, this is Laura and James Hale, and her brother, and my soulmate, Derek."

Hands are shaken, though not Kira, and Stiles just loves living with wolves. He can see the confusion on his father's face as they go down the line and deliberately skip her. He chuckles. 

"Nice to meet you, son. When this is all over, we should all have a party, or at least a family dinner."

James grins. "Oh! I'd be happy to cook."

"I'd be happy to let you," Melissa says, smiling. "How about Sunday?"

Everyone's happy with this plan, especially his dad when he finds out that James has a proclivity for cooking red meat. Stiles figures he can give his dad this one. Melissa is in charge of worrying about his cholesterol now, and he trusts her with it.

Everyone breaks up, and it's not until Stiles is sitting in the car with Derek that he really has a chance to take a minute to analyze the feeling that the bond is feeding him. It's an interesting combination of what sort of feels like embarrassment and excitement and worry. "Dude, what is going on with you?"

"Your step mom."

Stiles rolls his eyes. He loves Derek, he really does, but sometimes his brain to mouth filter makes him want to rage against whoever or whatever taught him that it was best to not speak his goddamned mind. "Yes? Do not say she's hot. We all know, we just don't say anything for Scott's sake, and also my dad would rip off the arm of whoever said it."

Derek shakes his head. "I just- never thought about it. But, of course she'd still be here. Your step-mom sort of watched out for me and Laura the night of the fire. We were in shock, and the paramedics packed us up, and took us to the hospital. Laura was twenty-three, but I was only sixteen. It took them some time to figure out what to do with us, but she was - kind. You could tell she felt horrible knowing what had happened, but she wasn't -"

"Fake sad? Apologetic?" Stiles asks, knowing exactly what she hadn't been from when his mother had passed. 

"Yes. And, it wasn't a big deal at the time. I don't think I understood at the time how much I'd appreciate it until later. Laura made me get my GED the next year, and then the year after that she made me fill in college applications. They kept asking for a prospective major, and I had no idea what I wanted to do. Most of me wanted to climb under a rock and die. I was -a mess, way worse than last year. Losing pack is like losing a limb, and I felt like all I had left was a raw aching nerve, and the rest of me had been cut away."

Stiles reaches across the gearshift, and grabs Derek's hand, running his thumb over the back. 

"You start to heal a little eventually. James came to the pack. But, I had to choose. I was flipping through the pages of the catalog, and I saw it. They had a nursing program, and I don't think I thought about it for more than twenty seconds before I wrote it in on the application. But, I remember thinking- someday maybe I could be that helpful person in a moment of need."

Derek is a giant hairy muscle-bound marshmallow with a face that would be terrifying if it wasn't so beautiful, and Stiles loves that about him. He'll never be a babbler, and he'll always carry the ache of loss, just like Stiles does. But sometimes Derek opens a little window past the closed off facade and shows him a little piece of his heart, and it leaves Stiles wrecked, and desperate to get his hands on his bondmate, every time. Stiles glances around, and makes a left, instead of a right, and it doesn't take long before they've headed out of town, and up to the preserve. "Please, for the love of headphones, tell me that you have your ears turned on." Stiles has picked one of the least accessible side roads through the preserve to park in, in the hope that any nosy patrols won't bother looking for something so inconvenient to get to. 

Derek raises an eyebrow. "I can listen, sure. Why?"

"Awesome. You hear a car, no matter how close you are, you stop me. I am not getting picked up for indecent exposure in Beacon Hills that's for damn sure," he says, unbuttoning his pants.

"Uhm." is all that Derek gets out, and Stiles knows he's catching Stiles' desire through the bond, and probably from the flush of pheromones, but he's also gotten the impression that it's left Derek more confused than anything else. But his mate is rolling with it, pulling Stiles' shirt up over his head.

"Take your pants off. Please. I have to get my hands on your cock. And my mouth. I want you, Derek. Please."

He knows, logically, that the Jeep is not a great vehicle for having sex of any kind in, but he does know that he can totally make it work. Which is how he manages to get himself seated facing Derek in the passenger seat, Derek's pants pushed down around his thighs, and Stiles' are stuffed on into the floorboard somewhere. "You make me crazy sometimes," Stiles says, wrapping a hand around Derek. "These little pieces where we fit together, and it makes me want you so bad. Is that weird?"

Derek stares at him, down at his cock that Stiles has in a comfortable grip, and then up at Stiles. "If we're fucking in the car we are not having sappy conversations first. And yes you're weird. Move!" 

Stiles grins, and slides a hand up Derek's dick, lazily brushing his thumb over the head and back down over the shaft. He'd never been with an uncut guy before Derek, but damn he likes it, likes how everything is a little bit easier. It doesn't take long to establish a comfortable rhythm, between them, Stiles leaning close in the tight confines of the car, pressing kisses and little nips to Derek's throat, lips, jaw until Derek groans. "I'm close."

"Fuck, yes. Come for me, Derek," he says, leaning back as best he can to get the whole view, his Derek, lost in the building pleasure, mouth slightly open, eyes mostly closed, his hips jerking upwards slightly, just before he whispers, "Fuck. Stiles,"-- and they're in his car. It's definitely checking off at least one of his go-to teenage fantasies, but exponentially better than he could have imagined. 

Derek comes in a rush, and there's come on their hands, and Stiles' lower abs, because Derek is a possessive thing, and Stiles groans when Derek wraps a hand around him, come and added spit, and jerks him just a few times before he's coming. It takes him a minute or two to come down from the high, and when he starts paying attention again, he realizes that Derek is petting him- no the bastard is rubbing their spunk into his skin. 

"Dude."

"You love it, don't front."

Stiles hmms, and sighs. "We should go. Except I really want to cuddle."

"We can go home and cuddle. Put your pants back on."

Stiles does, it's a little awkward, but he does, and he drives home, still feeling like he got away with a crime. Later that evening, they're snuggling on the couch, while James and Laura bicker in the kitchen over the consistency of the pasta sauce that James is cooking, when Stiles starts giggling. Nothing is particularly funny, they were just comfortable, and he buries his face against Derek's chest, shoulders shaking, when Derek chuckles himself, and presses a kiss into his hair. "Christ, Stiles."

"What?"

"I can smell the inappropriateness of your laughter. What is -"

Stiles, who can't quite get the feeling that he should be thanking his step-mom for some pretty awesome mid-afternoon orgasms in some hugely inappropriate way, can't stop giggling, but it has overtones of happiness in it, and he just shakes his head against his bondmate's grey t-shirt, stifling the giggles. What the hell, brain? What. The. Hell.

* * *

They all return to the negotiation table in the morning. It doesn't look like anybody else had as lovely an evening as he did, because Scott shows up with a chip on his shoulder. Satomi seems unruffled as ever. Stiles frowns, and pulls Scott out of the room and into the lobby. "What is going on? Why are you so damn cranky today?"

"You stink of their pack. I don't like it, Stiles. You're not even gone yet, and all I can smell is Derek, all over you."

Stiles takes a deep breath. "Okay. Stay here," he demands, walking back into the meeting room. He stops Toshiro and Alan, and asks that they have a thirty minute delay and they agree. Stiles leaves, not acknowledging the questioning looks, and worried glances that he's getting, and hauls Scott back out of the hotel. "Get in the goddamned car." Scott climbs in, and Stiles drives him out to the school. It's still winter break, and it should be secluded. Stiles doesn't invite Scott to follow him, he just walks out onto the field, towards the bleachers. He sits down, tucking his hands into his jacket pockets. Scott sits down, and they stare across the field. 

"There's not a lot we can do about this, Scott. I need you to accept this. It doesn't make us anything different. We're still friends, we're still brothers."

"I know. I know, but it feels wrong. It grates my nerves. No, it grates my instincts."

Stiles shrugs. "I'm sorry. I can't have two alphas, Scotty. I know you don't know them, but they're good people. They want to do good things here." 

Scott, even before he'd started to develop as an alpha had had an issue with authority. Stiles blames Rafe, but whatever. "She wants to grow her pack, and gain power, and she wants to take you from us!"

Stiles wants to rip his hair out. The first time ever Scott does the required reading, and he gets it all wrong anyway. They'd each submitted a selection of goals for the treaty negotiation process. They had actually mostly been complimentary. But apparently when Laura had requested permission to grow her pack, Scott had not understood. "Look, its polite to ask. You never asked when you added anybody, and Satomi never said anything, but Scott- I've learned a lot, and you are supposed to ask, or at least politely notify the neighbors that you are. She wants to have a half dozen babies, and permission to take in some others, if they come looking. We've discussed how we want her to take Erica, so she can get better? And it makes sense, if I'm going to take Erica. We've always been closer than she has been with anybody else in the pack."

Scott growls. "STILES."

"What?" Stiles shouts back. 

"I hate that you're okay with this! That it's no big deal that you're leaving."

Stiles takes a deep breath, and rubs his face in his hands. "I'm not going anywhere, Scott. I'm coming home. I'm just going to live in a house with Derek somewhere. Did you think I'd never find anybody, and I'd always be just yours? You didn't mind Erica-"

"Erica is human! She doesn't scent you the way he does. You never came around stinking of another wolf. I don't know how to deal with this. I really don't."

"I won't be technically pack, Scott- we're always going to be best friends. Laura isn't going to change that. I don't know how exactly to get that through to you. We need to do this. We don't really have an option other than us just joining her pack, and you submit. Somehow I don't think that's what you want."

"No."

"Derek is my soulmate, Scott. We're - really amazing together. And, they are all each other has. If they had a big family pack, maybe things would be different, but Kate fucking Argent ruined that for us. Hell, we'd probably all be normal human teenagers if not for her. Probably. But that isn't the world we're living in. I need you to back me on this."

"I don't have to like it."

Stiles nods. "Deal." Stiles doesn't give a shit how petulant and cranky Scott is as long as he keeps his stupid mouth shut. 

"Deal."

"Great. Get your wolfy ass back in the car, we have to get back."

They make it back just in time, and Stiles rushes to the table, and sits down with Scott. There are some looks from Derek in particular, probably from the lingering scents of frustration and anger that are no doubt radiating off of Scott. 

Stiles opens the negotiation, by renewing the oaths, and settling everyone at the table. It's a test for him to handle the most important part of the treaty negotiations. "Today we dig into the meat of the contested matter. All parties have been asked to submit their primary goals for these negotiations. In almost all counts these requests are complimentary. Firstly, all parties want a safe and peaceful territory. We outlined borders, and responsibilities yesterday. The Ito Pack has a formal request tied to this particular point. I cede the floor to Alpha Ito."

Satomi sat forward. "For some time, years in fact, my pack has been watching a coyote living on the edges between our territory and the preserve. She's been there for - long enough to be coming up on the end of a coyote's natural lifespan, but still appears to be young and healthy. We're fairly certain it's a feral were-child. I have sent Alpha Delgado out to attempt to bring the feral child back, on a few occasions, but she won't yield. I would request that the Hale Alpha make an attempt. She hasn't shown any signs of hunting anything other than game, but she will require monitoring until she passes. And any pups she has will have to be watched as well."

Laura grins. "I'd be happy to take up this task for you."

Satomi nods. "My request has been filled. As I intend to cede my territory to Alpha Delgado, I am appeased."

Stiles looks to Scott who says, "I am appeased."

Deaton is smiling like he's Father Christmas, and Laura agrees. 

Stiles sighs. "This brings us to the heart of these negotiations. The floor is ceded to Alpha Hale."

"The Hale Pack formally requests the transfer of Stiles Stilinski from the Delgado Pack. He is the bonded mate of my brother."

"Stiles Stilinski agrees to the request," Stiles says. He starts praying that Scott will go with them on this. That he won't balk at the last minute, that their talk this morning got through to him. 

"The alpha from the Delgado pack agrees with conditions."

"What conditions are those?" Laura asks, but she already knows what Stiles thinks the request will be. 

"The Ito and Delgado pack have laid out a not inconsiderate amount of money and time, to train him as an emissary. We would like compensation for the funds, and time. We'll be left, again, without an emissary. You are aware we are being sheltered due to our age, and lack of an emissary."

"We are aware."

Toshiro leans forward. "In the short-term future, the Ito pack plans to disband. Our alpha wishes to return the homeland of her youth. Her child, and myself are going with her. We wish to be free of the sheltering, though it has been a privilege to do so for a pack with so much potential."

Scott nods. "We can't tell you how grateful we are that you advised us, and took care of us when we were too young to know how to be a pack, and stay safe from hunters."

Satomi gives him an enigmatic smile. "It was - the wisest course of action we could have taken. I am still sorry we haven't been able to find proper training for Lydia. If I do hear anything, I will send word. That is a promise."

Scott nods, Stiles looks over to see Lydia, clutching Jacksons' hand, give Satomi a smile. They were never close, but Satomi had always done her best to be her chosen obligation to keep them out of trouble. Lydia still managed to find her way to more crime scenes than not. A banshee's control in the face of death is thin. 

Stiles looks to Laura. "Do you agree take on the sheltering until such a time as the Delgado pack is equipped to manage on their own, with a trained emissary?"

Laura nods."We are so few, but we accept this obligation as a necessary and welcome consequence of the need to add Stiles to our pack. We agree to the terms."

That was not entirely painless, Stiles can tell through the bond there's plenty of scent tension in the air. The unease in the bond is a testament to that fact. "If that is agreed upon, I suggest we recess for a meal, and return to continue through the terms of the negotiation this afternoon."

They all leave the table, and the rest of the pack stands. Stiles heads over to talk to Derek as quick and briefly as possible. "I need to stick with Scott today. I know you probably want some time, I can - tell, but. It'll go better, if I don't."

Derek frowns. "All right."

Stiles leans in and kisses him, a quick press of lips, before heading back to Scott who is talking to Kira and Lydia. Lunch is a quick affair, just some quick take out that they scarf down. "Do you think they'll ever find someone to help me control this?" Lydia asks, picking at her salad.

Stiles nods. "We will. I'm always going to keep looking, Lyds. Even May will. There have to be more of your kind out there. I promise. And until then, my dad or I, will always cover for you at a crime scene."

She frowns. "Thanks ever so."

"Hey, it's what we can do. How do you manage in Boston?"

She shakes her head, probably at the stupidity she encounters, and says, "The psychic thing."

Stiles shrugs. "Hey, if it works, go with it."

Scott has been quiet, and Stiles puts a hand on his shoulder. "You hanging in there, buddy?"

"Well, I haven't ripped anybody's throat out yet, so, yes," he says, angrily, eyes flashing red.

"Whoa!" Stiles shouts, "Chill, man. We went over this, this morning."

"And I still hate it. And you still fucking stink."

Jackson stands up, and yanks Scott up by the shirt which even Stiles hears tear. "Get up, you asshole. Let's go," and Stiles watches them go outside. 

Lydia sighs, and Kira looks edgy. "I really- I want to be sorry, guys. But I really can't," Stiles says. And it's true. He's spent the last week feeling horrible for the trouble he's causing, but the very thought of not having Derek feels like ice in his chest.

Lydia nods. "I think it'll be better when he gets a chance to see you and Derek together. I'm not sure why he never came out to visit you once you met, honestly. I've seen you and Derek all cuddled up on the couch, and arguing over how much salt to put on the popcorn, and you panting over him in the navy blue scrubs, and how much that stupid cat likes him. To Scott, he's just so other wolf, taking his best friend from his pack."

"That isn't my fault!" Stiles insists, feeling like a jerk. 

Kira nods. "I know. I told him a few times he should, but he's been working really hard to scrape up the money to pay Satomi back-"

"What?" Stiles asks. "Why?"

"Because he thought he should."

"Has he paid her anything, actually? That's - important information. I mean, if he has, Laura will pay him back, when she pays Satomi the balance."

"I'm not sure," Kira answered honestly. "But, he's been doing shifts at Deaton's, at the clinic in Briarwood, and doing work at the shelter. He's been fretting not having enough set aside to not work this week, too."

"Like for your household bills?"

Kira nods. "Yeah. I mean, we don't pay rent, but the student loans are rolling in right on time, and -"

Stiles. "I got it. All right. Well, we can deal with this, when they get back. Eat, you're growing a baby," he says, pushing half his sandwich at her. 

She takes it with a grateful smile, and Stiles heads outside. Scott and Jackson are standing by the tree line, and if Stiles doesn't miss his guess they're passing a joint between themselves. Stiles walks up. "Better?"

"No."

"Why didn't you tell me you were trying to pay your student loans, and Satomi?"

"Because it's not your problem."

"How isn't it my problem, Scott? Okay, fine the student loans, but trying to pay her back at the same time cannot be helping. How much have you given her?"

"Nothing," Scott mumbles. "I just- I have it all in an account."

"Okay. So, at least she hasn't been withholding information. How much do you have for her?"

"A little over five grand."

"Great. Put that towards your loans, or whatever you want, buddy. Because Laura Hale is paying Satomi back, and the Hales are - well, pretty wealthy. They have a brownstone in Brooklyn they're putting up for sale, and healthy portfolios. That is not a worry you need to carry right now."

"Stiles, I'm still going to have to do it, sooner or later. An emissary isn't just going to fall into my lap full trained."

Stiles sighs. "Maybe not, but that doesn't mean that we can't look for one from that pool first. We'll talk to Deaton, and May. Laura isn't going to freak out if you take too long and stop protecting you. That's the point of all of this. Is to put all this out there. And- maybe it hasn't penetrated your thick skull, but - we're always going to be sister packs. We are always going to be bound by family. Derek is my soulmate, and we're going to be Hale Pack, but I'm still your brother. Your mom is your pack- even if officially she's on paper as neutral, but she's my dad's mate. And Derek was totally fanboying over her yesterday- it was a little embarrassing. So, let's just get this straight, okay? Not all packs are enemies."

Scott nods. "I know. Except when does really truly good things ever happen in Beacon Hills?"

"I don't know. But, this good thing happened in Manhattan, and any bad things that find their way here, will have to deal with all of us."

* * *

As shitty as lunch had been, it ended sort of okay, and okay fine Scott was a little mellow on the weed/wolfsbane combination that Lydia had managed to create - for Science, Stiles. Shut up, it'll be fine. I won't test it on anybody until I'm sure- but it was better than him being uptight and angry all afternoon. Laura is giving him a look, and Stiles just shakes his head, and Satomi has smelled it plenty of times to know what that's about.

They reconvene when everyone's returned except Erica, who Stiles had asked earlier to not attend since she was up for discussion. 

"This afternoon's point of contest are other effected pack members, and pack growth. Alpha Hale has asked for room to grow. Alpha Ito has asked for her betas to be allowed to freely choose to join either pack, or no pack, and be allowed to stay in the territory with no time limits. Alpha Delgado, and myself personally, have requested that the pack human Erica Reyes be allowed to move from the Delgado pack to the Hale pack with me, and be placed into consideration for the bite.

"Alpha Ito have I stated your request correctly?"

"Yes."

Stiles nods. "The Delgado is happy to welcome any of the Ito pack members that wish to join us. What is the consensus from the Hale pack?"

"I have no issue, with considering them. If they are a good fit, we would be happy to have new members. I won't summarily agree to the addition of a specific person as part of the negotiations, however."

Stiles looks over at Derek who has a blank expression on, that says he knew Laura was going to object. Stiles tries to dampen the frustration and anger that he's feeling, he doesn't want to upset Derek, but he knows what Erica means to him, and he knows why they've requested that she be placed into consideration for the bite. "Would the Alpha Hale like to state her reasoning?"

"I don't know this girl. I know she's sick, and I'm sorry she's ill. Nobody deserves to have a body that fights them, but if the bite doesn't take, my door will be the one that hunters knock on in the night. I have had enough of hunters to last a lifetime."

"The Delgado Pack doesn't stipulate that you must bite her, only that you would consider it. Will you accept her into your pack?"

"I won't agree to adding any pack members sight unseen into the pack. I am aware that she and Derek are acquainted, but I don't know her. My mate doesn't know her. On this point I have to refuse."

Stiles hangs his head. This was actually - really important. Her meds were not working, and the doctors were trying everything, they'd put her on birth control to try and even our hormone fluctuations since they'd noticed that a lot of her recent seizures were right before her cycle started. Not only that, but Erica has always been - his. He'd brought her to the pack, and she and Lydia were friends, but not the way he and Erica were. 

Deaton speaks up for the first time all day it seems, "I'd like to call a break, so I can have an aside with my alpha."

Stiles nods. "Granted."

They break, and Stiles hoofs it out of the room, and goes outside. He's been there for twenty minutes, when his dad sits next to him on the short concrete wall he's perched on. "Hey kid."

"Hey Dad."

"Did you seriously go get Scott high so he'd do what you wanted him to do?"

"No. Jackson got him high so he'd chill the fuck out. I apparently stink of Derek, and Scott's feeling territorial. It's- inconvenient. He's okay. We talked it out, I think. But, he doesn't have to like it, he just has to accept it. I can't ask Laura to let go of Derek, it'd be- debilitating for the both of them."

"I know. Well, I didn't, but I assumed you'd at least considered it before you started all this-" he says, gesturing to the hotel. "You okay?"

"I'm not sure what to do about Laura refusing Erica. She's - you know - we're - simpatico. We're cat parents together. She's like my sister from another mother."

John gives him a look, on eyebrow raised, "Wow, that sounds so wrong considering your senior year-"

"Dad! Oh my god," Stiles says, laughing. 

"You are aware, kid, that's it's a lot to ask."

"Yes. I am. But, I am giving them everything. I'm leaving my pack, my training- for them."

John nods. "I know you are. Do me a favor, and keep an open mind, when you go back in there. Okay?"

Stiles nods. "Yeah."

"You ready? Laura and Deaton were only five minutes."

They reconvene and Deaton speaks once they are called back to the table. "Alpha Hale will not move on this point."

Stiles sighs, and he's just about to concede when Toshiro speaks. "May I have the floor?"

Stiles nods. "The floor is ceded to Emissary Inoue."

"I would like to propose a - compromise. I believe that Alpha Hale is planning a trip to South America at the close of the negotiations. Perhaps the young lady in question should journey with Alpha Hale, get to know the pack. Join in on their quest, as it were. See if bonds can be forged. We will adjourn for two weeks, and when we reconvene, we will revisit the issue."

Stiles looks to Laura, who nods, and Stiles agrees. "We are adjourned for the term of two weeks."

Stiles wishes things could have gone differently. A two week adjournment to let Laura and James head off to Brazil won't do much to appease Scott's worries, but though time with Derek won't hurt. 

They dismiss, and Stiles heads over to Erica's to tell her the decision. He'd asked Derek to go to the house with Laura and James, so he can talk to her alone. They were sitting on her bed in a pile of two. He has fond memories of this bed, none that he wants to reenact, but fond nonetheless. The Reyes' dog, Chewie, a fat dappled black and brown mini-dachshund, is laying between them and snoring like he hasn't a care in the world.

"You want to run that by me again?" Erica asks, giving him an incredulous look. 

"It was agreed that you could go with the Hales- with Laura and James- to go investigate a rumor that there's a wolf in South America that matches their sister's description."

"What? Why?" come in quick succession, and after a pause, "Where?"

"Look, Laura won't just - agree. She doesn't know you. And Derek does, but she wants - pack for them isn't friends. It's family first. She wants time to get to know you. So, they're going to Brazil, to see if the girl in the rumors is really their sister."

"Why would they think it is?" Erica asks, curious, and Stiles can't blame her. 

"So, some werewolves have the ability to shift fully into the wolf. Laura can. Derek can. Their mother could. It's an ability that seems to be particularly prevalent in their family, and pretty rare elsewhere. This girl apparently can, and she has dark hair and green eyes. I know that sounds - flimsy, but I don't think that Toshiro or Satomi would have brought it to them if it was just anybody. I think it's possible it really is Cora."

"Wow, and you're right. They probably wouldn't do that. Not unless they were pretty damned sure."

"Exactly. So you can go with Laura and James. It'll be fine, they're sort of weird, but they're fun. You'll be fine. It's not even a bad point in your cycle, right?"

She nods, digging into the pillow. "I hate that you know that. There are lines."

"Hey, we live together. It's self defense to know," he grins. "So, you in?"

She shrugs, and pulls the dachshund against her, petting his ears. "Sure. I've never been to Brazil. It'll be fun."

Stiles chuckles, and grabs Chewie's little front paw and makes him wave. "Be good. But, be yourself. Be my Catwoman. It'll be fine no matter what happens. Okay?"

She nods. "Okay."

"Awesome. Pack a bag, you're leaving tomorrow," he says. "I'm going to run. I'll be around tomorrow before you leave. I'll have James call you later. I love you. Right, Chewbacca-Pup?" he grins, pressing his lips to Chewie's short black fur and blowing a raspberry. The dog rolls, and jumps at Stiles, licking his face with horrible dog breath. "You dumb dog, I love you too."

Erica grins. Chewie is dumb as a brick, but he's a snugglehound, and they love that about him. 

Stiles stands up, and ruffles his ears. "Be good to your girl, now. See you tomorrow, babe."

At home, Laura is packing and James is working out the airline tickets, and they'd arranged to have a friend courier their passports after Toshiro's visit, and they should arrive tomorrow morning. It's all very efficient and Stiles is doing his best to bury how annoyed he is at the whole thing. Derek is in the shower, he seems - okay, if slightly worried, maybe.

He sighs. "I need to-" he needs to run. He digs his phone out of his pocket and mass texts Scott, Jackson, Danny, Ethan and Kira. 

To Selected Recipients [17:15]: Lacrosse field @ 6 PM. Bring your shit. I am hardcore jonesing for some organized violence. 

To Stiles [17:16]: OMG YES. We'll be there. S+K.

To Stiles [17:16]: Us too. Danny

To Stiles [17:18]: I look forward to kicking your ass, Stilinski. 

He doesn't even think much about it, he just goes upstairs, and digs up his old jersey, and a pair of mismatched shorts that will at least fit. He grabs his crosse, checking the head, everything seems fine, and he's out the door without really thinking about it, or mentioning his departure to anybody. He figures Derek is aware of his agitation and he's staying away for a bit. He gets there before everyone else, but he doesn't care. He throws his gear on the empty bench, and takes a lap, and another, and then three more. He glances at the bleachers, because it's habit, but he'll be damned if he's going to run them. He decides to just do some press ups, and he's at thirty one when he hears a car door. He stands up, dusting dried grass off his palms, and grins when he sees it's Danny, Ethan, Jackson and Lydia. He waves. "Hey!"  
Scott and Kira show up a few minutes later. 

They're halfway through a modified game of three on three, when he feels the resonance kick in. He grins, and runs waiting for the pass from Danny that he knows is coming. It does. He scores. They've been playing for a solid forty minutes when Danny stands up, and says, "Water break!" They'd set the game as first to twenty, but Danny was amazing, and Kira was surprisingly even better at goal today, and the game was currently 15 to 13 in favor of Jackson's team- for now.

Stiles nods, and they trudge over to the bench, and Stiles is chugging a bottle of water, when Derek approaches. "You left."

"I needed a break. I'm sorry."

Derek tugs him into a side hug, and squeezes. "It's okay. I was just worried. You're okay?"

"I'm getting there. I think I just needed to run off some of the pent up energy."

"Good. You look good out there. You played in high school?"

"Yeah. Well, I sat on the bench for two and a half seasons, but- I got to play sometimes. You should see Liam play sometimes. He's on the team at Stanford. We're rank amateurs compared to that monster. He was good before he got bit."

"Yo, Stilinski, you wanna continue or what?" Jackson asks, looking grouchy. 

"Sure thing, asshat. Be right there," he says, winking at Derek. "We pretend we hate each other, it's a game we've been playing since we were seven. We're really good at not breaking character. Not to worry, soulmate mine," he says, blowing a kiss and running back out onto the field. 

It's immediately clear that Kira is done when she stops tending goal, and just lets the next five balls sail right past her. Stiles doesn't care, he feels better, and he hugs everybody before they leave, and he sits with Derek on the bleachers, sweat drying on his skin. 

"I can see they're a lot to give up. That they love you," Derek says after a while.

Stiles shrugs. "You love me. And," he leans forward, his elbows perched on his thighs staring across the empty field. "I'm not really giving them up. I mean, they won't be my pack on paper, but they're still going to be my friends. I'm still going to be the most kickass god-papa ever for that little baby. Scott - he wasn't getting that. He felt like it was going to just be over. And, in some ways it is, I won't be the sidekick anymore. He'll have to find his emissary, but- I think he gets it now," he says and then after just a moment says, "I'm exhausted, and I need a shower.'

Derek grins. "You are a little rank. I wasn't going to mention it."

Stiles chuckles. "So, the shower does in fact fit two." He knows this for a fact, because he totally caught his dad and Melissa exiting at the same time two years ago and it had been world record levels of awkward. Today though this is vital information, and he's absolutely going to take advantage. "I think you should join me."

Stiles feels the curl of interest in Derek, and he grins. "Let's go. First one in the shower wins."

"Wins what?" Derek asks, heading for the rental car he'd borrowed from Laura.

"I'm thinking a rimjob and a slow fucking, but hey I'm versatile."

Derek growls. "Christ, you minx. Meet you there."

Stiles notices that there's no rush in Derek's steps. He leans out his window, when he drives past Derek who is just getting into the rental. "I'm an otter, and don't you forget it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter and epilogue after this! 
> 
> Thanks for hanging in there with me guys, special thanks to my commenters, you are all awesome. Also big thanks for all the kudos.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a Stilinski-Hale family hike, the Coyote, and magic happens.

Chapter Thirteen

In the face of cancelled Sunday lunch plans, Stiles had dropped into his father's office on Thursday. "So, dad, got any weird cases of missing kids that are still on the books, but pretty old? Or, hey, failing that like - weird cases-"

His dad had just waved him into the seat across from his desk, and slid a file across the desk at him. "I think this is your coyote. After the werewolf revelation, it caused me to review some cold cases that never stopped bothering me. This was one of them. I revisted the car wreck. Scott tried to help me retrace things, even years later, but - in the end we hit a dead end."

"Which was?"

"Scott told me about Satomi sending him out there to try and coax the coyote out. To force her to be the girl she is and how she wouldn't listen to him. She'd just run away."

"That sounds hopeful."

John shrugged. "Stiles, I think that her reluctance to be human- considering how long she's been a coyote should be thought through, first. She was a child when the accident happened. Nine. You force her out she's going to be twenty one, but still a child."

"It's a risk, and maybe she hates it, but the alternative isn't any better. What if there's a girl in there that just can't get out? What if she has pups and then we have little were-kids in the woods, feral little were-kids? I don't know if that's possible, but what if it is? What if we do nothing now, and then change our minds in five years and the gap is even wider? I think - the Hales can take care of her. She'll need help - but they'll find a way to get it for her."

"As long as you've thought about it."

"Well, I didn't know who it was, or the age gap, those are just off the top of my head, but-"

John nodded, and opened his desk drawer. "I had to do some digging to get this one. You should thank Melissa for this," he says, handing it over. "I think this might help."

Stiles looked down at the document, and frowned. It's a birth certificate - Malia Hale. No middle name. Mother REFUSED. Father Peter Matthew Hale. Stiles looks up. "What?"

"This is the original certificate. She was adopted by a family here in Beacon Hills a month after this was issued, to Henry and Evelyn Tate. Her legal name is Malia Anne Tate."

Stiles rubbed a hand over his face. "She had no idea what she was. Maybe the mother didn't either. Peter couldn't have known. He'd have -" Stiles frowned and checked her date of birth - Peter was definitely alive and kicking and maybe not crazy at the time. "He'd have probably tried to take her. So, these poor people just have a coyote-"

"The accident happened on the full moon-" his dad informed him, his voice sounding sad. 

"God. That's - terrifying for everyone. Derek and I are going to hike out into the preserve, just to see if we can get a look at her. At least make sure she's healthy. I don't think we can get her to do anything without Laura. You're welcome to come. Sunday? We'll pack a lunch and hike?"

"Sure. We'll do that. Family bonding, searching for a were-coyote."

Stiles chuckled. "That's the spirit, Pops."

Which is what has led them to hiking the preserve. It's a chilly winter day, so the paths are largely empty except for the occasional runner that passes them by. The sun is shining though, and Stiles is plenty warm between his comfortable fleece jacket, gloves and scarf. Derek has led them far from the Hale properties, and the parts of the forest that Satomi and Scott's pack inhabit, closer to the highway out of town, closer to the human footpaths. "Here?" Stiles asks, curious. He would have thought that she'd been hiding far from any civilization.

"It's just a place to start. John, can you show me the crash site?"

The car is still there, Stiles is surprised to find. Derek pokes around in it, pointing out the usual detritus of a car with children in it- hardened plastic sippy cups, a ragged doll, a child's blanket. He's been tracking for his entire life, and has spent years ignoring the scents of the city. Being out there again feels like rediscovering his nose almost, and there's a scent here that calls to him, Stiles can feel some seriously keen interest. "She must come here sometimes. I have the scent. It's - weird, like there's a rather pungent scent of urine, and old game that's probably in her fur, and the general scent of not-wolf, but underneath that there's a really strong scent of something familiar. I can probably find her."

They follow Derek, who is tracing broadly following a scent, while trying to stay on the human paths. "So, Derek, Stiles tells me your a nurse?" Melissa asks, and Stiles fights not to die laughing when he feels Derek's general intentness turn to nerves. 

"Yes. I have a BSN. I work on a recovery unit."

Melissa grins, and Stiles can tell she's aware that he's nervous. Though, how she'd miss it he has no idea, since Derek has pulled into himself visibly. "You like the work?"

"Yeah, I do. I could have dropped it after my first certification if I didn't, but I actually do. I like being there when people need me, patients and families."

Melissa grins, at him. "What was your favorite rotation? You must have when you were training."

"I'm not particular, but as awkward as it was, and sometimes I got refused from the room, I liked working in L&D. Being there on the most important day of their lives. It's pretty amazing. But, I like the recovery unit too. And, even though it's extremely exhausting, I don't mind doing time in the pit occasionally."

Melissa grins. "You're a good kid. Stiles is going to corrupt you, and it'll be such a shame. You'll apply at Beacon Hills General, when you move home?" 

Stiles catches Derek's eye, but he's not going to say anything. Derek knows he wants to come how after school finishes, and Stiles knows Derek isn't sure if he's ready, but they're working on compromising. He just shrugs, to say that Derek can decide how to answer this one. 

"I'm not sure when that will be, but I'm sure I will."

"Well, you better, or you'll be driving halfway across the county to work at Mid-Valley General." Stiles loves this, all his people getting along. He grins over at his dad, who's also looking pretty pleased with life, bundled up in a fleece and scarf, a backpack full of snacks, sandwiches and water on his back. Melissa is adorable today in jeans which is rare to see, honestly, and a beige wooly peacoat and red and black scarf, her hand tucked into his Dad's pocket, walking close together up the trail. It's adorable is what it is, and Stiles is so thankful that they finally admitted their feelings for each other. It'd been a pretty awesome day senior year when he and Scott had walked in on them kissing in the McCall family kitchen. "You're just hilarious."

Derek is giving him the small grin that means he's privately amused, and Stiles reaches over, and grabs his hand, and moves to get in-step with him. "How's your nose doing?"

"Fine. We're taking a wide circle of what is probably her den. I want to give her a lot of time to scent us coming before we approach. Might stop when we reach the trail head, if it really is where I sort of remember it being."

"Sounds like a good plan."

The hike is easy, just taking the wide dirt trails, that slope slowly, without any need to clear brush to get where they need to go. The worst they have to deal with is a cranky-looking porcupine that stares at them from up a tree as they pass, wriggling his back in threat. They pass fairly quickly and without incident. They do stop at the trail head, which has a tiny parking area with access to the highway, and a handful of picnic tables. They break out lunch from John's backpack, and they're eating sandwiches, and sharing a huge bag of homemade popcorn that Derek had made on the stove, when Derek goes absolutely still for a second, and then continues, just the same. Stiles assumes that means she's close, but he takes his cue from Derek, and they chat, and pack up, tucking trash back into their backpack. 

They continue their huge circle, slowly meandering the trail, chatting, and playing. Derek is just about ready to start making inroads through the underbrush to head towards her den, when he sees her. She walks onto the trail, and then approaches slowly, and moves to her belly as she gets closer. "Hello," Derek says quietly. "You can smell it too, huh?"

"Smell what?" John asks.

"She smells like family. I'm - I don't know why, but she does."

John answers, not sure why Stiles didn't tell him before they hit the trail that morning. "I found her birth certificate. It says that Peter Hale was her birth father."

Derek grins. "Did you hear that, pretty coyote girl?" and Stiles doesn't have to wonder to know that this is his mate's friendly dealing with kids in the ER voice. "We're family. We're pack. Are you sure you don't want to be Malia again? You can change back. Just - concentrate really hard on who you were, what you want more than anything, and it'll happen."

She stares at him for a long time, and then whines. 

Derek looks over at John, Melissa and then Stiles, and then strips out of his jacket, and then his shirt. He sits down on the ground, and lays his hand out, human shaped, before he lets the claws appear. "See, but I focus - when I think about something special, or important, I can find the control to put the wolf away, and-" he holds his hand back out for her to see, blunt human fingernails on display. 

She stares for a while longer, then barks, and then whines, and then crawls forward on her belly, and - into Derek's lap. Derek looks up at Stiles, and Stiles grins. "Want to introduce us?"

"Slowly."

Stiles walks over slowly, and the coyote stares at him the entire time, but doesn't show teeth or growl, but watches his every move intently, until he is sitting in the dirt with them. 

"Hi."

Derek grins, and reaches over, running a hand over Stiles' neck, and on his shirt. "Malia, this is my mate, Stiles," he says, holding his hand out, letting her smell Stiles' scent on his hand. 

Stiles watches as she smells Derek's hand, and then seems to - shrug it off, and pads over next to him, and huffs. "So- she's stuck?" Stiles asks, he's pretty certain, but he wants Derek's opinion. 

"It seems possible. It's also possible she only understands a little bit. I've never heard of it happening, but it doesn't mean it can't. Poor girl."

The sheriff frowns, "What do we tell her father?"

Derek is running his hand over the fur on her flank, trying to check for parasites, or any issues, while bringing a small amount of comfort, when he looks up. "What could you possibly say? Hey, Mr. Tate, we found your daughter, she's been living as a coyote?"

John sighs. "I know it'd be - difficult to accept, but she was his daughter."

Derek shrugs. "That's your call, but I'm not sure it's a burden he'd necessarily want. Our girl here was - just a kid when she changed- and not just to beta-shift, but wholly changed. She'll be strong, when she has control. But it will take some time for her to find it. It's - something we discussed, and we are prepared to take on. We thought we were doing it out of obligation - to the treaty, but - if she's family. If she's our cousin? It would be a gift. She is a gift. Another Hale. Even if she isn't a wolf."

"The pack won't reject her?"

"Do the rest of the pack dislike Kira, even though she's a fox? It's not about your nature, it's about family. For the Hales at least, Pack is always about family."

They while away the afternoon, sitting on the trail with Malia, until the sun starts to set. Finally, Derek stands. "My sister is away right now. Our Alpha. But we'll come back, when she is. She can force you out. Do you understand me?" The coyote pranced, and looked irritated. "I guess that's a yes. Soon, okay? We'll be back to visit before then, a few times. Be safe."

The hike back to the car is faster than the hike to the den, as there's no need to go slow, and the sun will set soon. Except when they get back, they walk to the parking lot, only to find a young coyote sitting next to the rental car. Derek laughs. "You want to come home?"

She yips, and Derek chuckles. Stiles is melting. He's absolutely melting over how easily this coyote has turned his Derek to total mush. They get some emergency blankets from the back of the sheriff's car, and lay them across the backseat, and she jumps in, sitting up in the car, and grinning through the window glass. You'd think she was just a dog the way she's behaving, and not a wild animal. John agrees that the girl can go to the house, but a bath absolutely has to happen. It's agreed, and John and Melissa leave, after handshakes, and hugs, and John pulls Derek aside and thanks him for being good for Stiles, and taking care of the pup. Stiles gets that out of Derek later that night in bed by being super annoying. He has skills. 

They're all in the living room that night, a freshly washed and slightly traumatized coyote on the couch between them as they eat pizza straight out of the box, and watch Jeopardy! when Derek's cell goes. 

To Derek [19:14]: Look at this beauty. She's coming home. 

[](http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ayswen/media/cora%20pic.jpg.html)

Derek turns and snaps a picture of Malia the Coyote and texts her back. 

To Laura: [19:18]: Malia Hale, daughter of Peter Hale. 

When his phone rings three minutes later, Derek puts it on speaker for Stiles, and maybe for Malia too, and Laura has that tone of voice that says indicates that there are some hardcore tears that are imminent. "She's really -"

"The sheriff dug out her birth certificate from before she was adopted. She's really Peter's daughter."

And then there's a quiet "God-" all he can hear is Laura crying, deep heaving sobs that eventually quiet to sniffles, and Stiles is more than wondering where the hell James is, or if he's there, just holding their alpha through the storm of what feel like blessings.

A minute later Stiles hears Laura pull in a shuddering breath and she says quietly, "We're here for a few more days, but you keep that precious girl safe. We love you."

Derek who has some very watery eyes himself, just says, "You too," and hangs up. 

They finish the show, and change the channel when Wheel of Fortune comes on, because its crap, and sit in silence for a long time, just the two of them and the coyote, until Stiles caves. He throws out the pizza box, and they make a nest for Malia of Derek's dirty clothes, and one of Stiles' unwashed hoodies, and she beds down, happily, like she gets it.

Stiles strips naked, before stripping Derek out of his clothes, and they pull the covers over themselves. Stiles can feel the edge that Derek is on, and he's being patient, waiting for him to let go. He's gotten used to these feelings, the always precede the very worst of the wobbles- when everything gets overwhelming, when it comes crashing down. Never when he's too tired from work, from when things don't go the way the doctors hope at work and someone dies - to Derek the Wolf that's just nature - never when he gets to the turnstile and he's out of money on his metrocard and the line is a dozen tourists deep. No, it's when too many things go well. 

It's only a little past one when it happens, and Stiles turns and wraps himself around his bondmate like an octopus. Before he even opens his mouth to say a word, Stiles presses a hand over his mouth. "Don't. I know what you're thinking. What you're feeling. But, you get it, right? This is why there is an us. This is the puzzle pieces falling into place. And, it's amazing. And it's not about what's fair, or what's deserved. There's a reason somewhere. Maybe because Malia will someday be the great-great-grandmother of someone who saves the world, who the fuck knows. But, somewhere, somehow, the universe wanted this to happen. So, it did. And I don't care what the means, except it means you're here in my bed, and I love you, and our pack is healing."

"I hate it when you preempt me like that."

"I'm sorry," and he's a little sorry, so it's not a lie. He' s mostly sorry that they happen at all. Stiles sometimes wishes he could have five minutes with that Argent bitch, just five, he could do plenty to make her sorry in five minutes. He snuggles close again, and tangles his hand in Derek's hair, and they fall asleep slowly. Stiles wakes briefly when Malia climbs into the bed too, circling for a minute, before laying in the gap between their legs, her head on her paws, tail tucked around her, eyes bright blue in the dark. 

This is how Stiles wakes in the morning, to the smell of coffee, and the sight of his dad, watching, horribly amused, and taking pictures.

* * *

Negotiations resume on schedule, and everything is much less intense after the recess. Stiles is most certainly of the opinion that it's entirely because Scott has been given time to process the change in his pack, and had the time to get to know Derek, and watch him with Malia, and Laura and James and Cora, as they all start to relearn how to be a family.

Malia is still a coyote, Laura is hesitant to force her out of her form, until she's certain that's what the girl wants, and so far, Malia is happiest, it seems, to be there with them exactly the way she is. Stiles has spent a lot of time with her, as the emissary, and he's fairly certain that she's actually trying very hard to change all on her own. He's not sure if the full moon next week will give her the push she needs or not, but he won't be surprised the day they wake up, and there's a naked woman in their house and no coyote. 

Stiles, Deaton, and Toshiro spend two days writing out the treaty terms, including the territory maps, pack membership lists as they currently exist, addendums for financial agreements and dates of re-payment. Erica is added to the Hale pack, with no conditions for a bite, but she and James get on like thieves, talking about Downton Abbey, and cats, and Stiles gets the distinct impression that James has a thing for kick ass girls, as much as he does. 

The meeting room is quiet, filled with the Ito pack betas, the new members of the Hale Pack, the Delgado Pack, filling the chairs that surround the negotiation table. His dad and Melissa are sitting in the corner. They couldn't sneak Malia in, but she seemed to understand this morning when they explained to her what they were doing. She'd just laid back down on her nest, and curled back up to sleep. 

It's almost anti-climactic. Deaton is in charge today, and he calls the alphas to the table, and its reviewed, and signed. It's done. Mostly.

The packs all crowd the backyard at Melissa's house, and grill an astounding amount of meat despite the cold, and stuff themselves on chips, dips, pasta, and salad and bread, as they all mingle, talking and chatting about plans, and tell embarrassing stories about high school shenanigans. Malia is hiding in the upstairs bedroom, with Kira who is resting. 

Cora looks like she'd as overwhelmed as Malia, but she's doing well, sticking like glue to Laura's side, or Derek's. They're happy to have her there. James is being a good sport about it, Stiles is working on being a good sport about it. They chase the Ito pack kids around the backyard, partially shifted, playing games of tag, and red light, green light, until even Kit, the most enthusiastic and competitive of the munchkins is bored. 

At sunset they leave, because there's only one more job to do to finalize the business of the treaty. Stiles stands with Deaton, Scott, Laura, and Toshiro, in front of the stump of the old nemeton. Stiles has no shirt on, the new moon phase in his tattoo has two branches laid over it, the mark of a druid, visible over his heart. Deaton and Toshiro are similarly exposed, though Toshiro has no mark. He has different magic. 

He has a few other tattoos that he's using as magical wells, storing extra for emergencies, but they are unimportant to this evening, but leaving them visible makes him feel exposed and more naked than he is. 

"This tree once stood tall and mighty over all the others. A healthy oak tree, the long held sacred heart tree of the area. When the Delgado Pack began to rise, it threw a sprout. The magic of the rise of new families, new packs, new magic in the area, has allowed this sprout to thrive. Today, we call upon the power of love," with a gesture to the Hales, "of sacrifice," to Scott, "of shelter," to Satomi, "of change," to Stiles, "to cement its power, in the region." 

Iron blades are brought out, and blood is poured onto the thin roots of the oak sapling that stands a ways from the old dead oak tree. Stiles remembers when he and Toshiro had replanted it, his senior year of high school. It's grown several feet since then though it still resembles a stick more than anything. Not for long though, because Deaton leads them in a casting, that fuels a growth spurt, that resembles something from a movie, as the old nemeton shrinks in on itself, blackening, thinning, while the new oak grows, roots growing deeper, and wider. Stiles can feel the tree, sapping magic, and radiating it at the same time. It's heady, and electric, and a little overwhelming, and Stiles isn't sure he isn't going to have to be carried out of the woods. 

"It is the sworn duty of the emissaries to protect the heart tree. Stiles, do you swear to do your duty, to your pack, your home, and your calling?"

"I swear."

Toshiro turns to Deaton. "Alan, do you swear to do your duty, to your home, and your calling?"

"I swear."

"May the blessings of the sun, the moon, and the truth shine upon us all in the days to come." 

The wolves, the fox, and coyote, then all tip their heads back and let out a mighty howl, that rises and falls three times, echoing in through the hills. 

A breeze sweeps through the clearing, the new leaves on the oak rustle, and never still. 

It is done.


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Stilinski!"

Stiles grins, as he walks into the diner. He'd had to quit over winter break to be away that long, and while he misses it, it's also nice to not have to get up at three in the morning to head to the diner to start service. He and Erica had given notice, and packed up their small apartment, and moved out to Brooklyn to the brownstone, with Tas who has since taken over the entire den for herself. "Hey guys!" he greets them, and waits for the new waiter to let him head back to the counter. 

He sits down, in between Irene and Gene, when they make room for him, and he grins as Irene leaves a lipstick print on his cheek, when she grabs his face and kisses him. "How are my favorite people?" he asks. 

Irene laughs. "Stiles, we're fine. We want to know about you. We haven't seen you in over a month! How is that beautiful boy of yours? He's treating you well?"

Stiles grins. "He's good, and yes he is. We're here for my last term at school, but we're already making plans for summer. We're heading home, to be with his family, and my family. I start the police academy in early July."

"You're going to be a policeman?" Irene asks, surprised. 

"Ah, yeah. Future Beacon County Sheriff Department deputy. That's me," he says, grinning, and grateful when Sandie brings him a cup of coffee, and he gratefully accepts his usual box of Golden Grahams, bowl, spoon, and a small carafe of milk. She remembers, and he's grateful. He listens to them chatter for a few minutes, while he picks at his cereal, and adds sugar to his coffee. 

Eventually Gene finally speaks. Gene has always been the most critical, and conversely, the kindest of them. For Irene it's just - amusement, and someone to talk to, and Max is mostly along for the ride. But Stiles can see Gene actually cares. "I found your blog."

Stiles looks over at him, taking a sip of coffee. "Yeah?"

"You're a good kid. You should finish it."

Stiles has spent hours thinking about it, just frowns over at Gene before admitting, "I don't know how."

Gene claps a hand on his arm, and then stands. "You'll figure it out, kiddo. See you around." He grabs his coat and hat off the coat rack by the door - he's the only one that uses it, and he's out the door before Stiles can really even process what just happened. 

* * *

[](http://imgur.com/nELi0tn)  


February 13, 2017

For my readers, for my fellow searchers, for Gene who told me to finish it.

Some people spend their entire lives searching for The One. Some people find the one in an instant across a crowded room, a busy subway car, and their eyes meet, and they just know. In their soul, in that instant that this person is theirs, that this person is everything they need and want. 

Some people hand their soulmate a coffee with way too many espresso shots in it, and let them wander back out, and walk away with a pretty girl laughing at their side, and spend months hoping to stumble over them again, unsure who they'll find at the end of the bond that's bloomed inside them. 

Ours isn't a story that movies are made of, it's awkward, and there's no meet-cute for either meeting. There have been a lot of upsets, and compromises, and misunderstandings. There's a cross-coastal move that I'm not entirely sure my soulmate is ready for in our future. 

But, I have two new sisters, a new brother, a cousin. My soulmate, who lost his parents to tragedy, too young, has access to a father who he can lean on, and a mother that he thinks the moon of. (Seriously. Fangirling. With flailing. But my step-mom is totally amazing.)

Every story is different, every puzzle is different. We don't know why us, except that we're blessed to have each other. 

I thought a lot about what I wanted to put out there- how I wanted to close this. I talked it over with my mister, and he told me about a conversation he had with his therapist, and we decided as advice goes, it's pretty good. 

If you're searching, if you're struggling,  
when the separation, the fight, the hurt, feels like agony,  
keep going.  
Don't give up. You'll find them. They'll find you.  
Keep going.  
It's totally worth it, even when it hurts. 

For my soulmate:  
You probably know this, but in case it's not completely clear. 

here is the deepest secret ~~nobody~~ everyone knows  
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud  
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows  
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)  
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart  
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

\--  
[](http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ayswen/media/maybe3.png.html)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone that's left kudos, or comments. Thanks to all the wonderful cheerleaders on Rough Trade, and Minion HQ. I'm grateful for all the wonderful feedback, and I hope you enjoyed. 
> 
> The poem that Stiles edits slightly at the end is by e.e. cummings. Go find it, its fantastic in its entirety. To me, it sounds like a description of wonder, and magic, and I think that would appeal to Stiles in this instance. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
